Book 4: Embers
by Perkele
Summary: Rife with conspiracies, action, drama and humor,this 'epic' is about a future teetering on the edge of war. Most of the old cast appears in this tale of woe,about the destructive urge mankind has for war. Join us won't you? There may or may not be cookies
1. Chapter 1: An Itch

Chapter 1: An Itch

He scratched at his scar. Lately it had been itching a lot, which Zuko found a bit troubling, since the last time his scar had been itchy like this were the weeks after he had received it. He pushed those dreadful memories aside, focusing on the task at hand. He had been chasing these pirates for almost a week now, finally catching up to them in a port on the most western parts of the Earth Kingdom. Most of them had left their ship to visit the local taverns, leaving only a few of them behind to guard their ship. The ship appeared to be an old Fire Navy vessel, similar to the one Zuko himself had commanded years ago.

Zuko, crouching on the roof of a building roughly 200 meters from the ship, had spotted three patrols consisting of two men circling the ship's deck. He could see lights and hear music and voices coming from small windows on the hull of the ship. The bridge was dark and eerily quiet over the music and general jubilant outcries from the men onboard. It was probably his best chance of entry and mostly likely where the captain lodged, well, if you were a responsible leader, it would allow you to take control of the ship immediately if trouble appeared. At least that was what Zuko had done when he had had a ship. But these of course, were pirates. The problem with pirates was that they were rarely in the right state of mind to make logical decisions, or more accurately, too drunk.

Zuko pulled down his blue mask and took his grappling hook off his belt. Taking careful aim, he threw it as silently as he could. It was harder to throw things quietly than Zuko had originally thought. As the hook finally attached itself to a railing near the bridge, it made a horrible clanging sound. At this moment Zuko remembered, to his dismay, that there wasn't any kind of special trick to throwing things quietly, some simple cloth around the hook would have been far more effective.

"Hey, didya hear that Thom?" came the voice of a guard as Zuko cursed surprisingly creatively under his breath.

"Hear what, Biddle?" another guard's voice replied.

"That metallic cling," the first voice answered.

"Huh, uuhmm you mean that metallic clang a few seconds ago?" said the second voice.

"Yeah that metallic – wait, 'clang'? – what are you talking about, it was obviously a cling."

"No, it was definitely a clang, big warships made of iron go 'clang', not cling, no self-respecting sailor would use a ship that 'clings'."

"Not all o'them parts are made of iron you know, there's other metals too, ya'know."

"And I suppose _you_ know where on a ship these other parts are?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. C'mon, I'll show ya."

Zuko sighed in relieve as the two guards walked away, still bickering. _Pirates_...

Zuko attached the end of the rope to a close by chimney and carefully made his way across the rope. When he reached the platform, he sent a small concentrated bolt of fire to burn through the rope near the chimney, and pulled back the rest of it. He couldn't risk one of the guards noticing it hanging there. He then found an unlocked door and proceeded into the ship's interior.

It had been such a long time since he had done something like this. Sneaking into an enemy stronghold, to liberate something of immense importance, all by himself. Besides the rush of adrenaline he was receiving, which made all his senses sharper and allowed him to see the world in a more fluent manner, he revelled in the solitude this opportunity afforded him with. For so many years, there had always been at least someone badgering him about what they should do. He had no idea people needed so much... leadership. He was starting to think maybe his sister hadn't gone completely insane when she decided to banish practically everyone she ran into as the Fire Lord. How had his father done it so easily? He had always seemed so calm and collected when it came to managing stately affairs. Zuko himself was constantly second-guessing his own decisions, and it probably showed. Why else would his subjects constantly be asking him: "Are you sure, My Lord", "Perhaps more time should be taken to consider all the consequences" or his personal favourite, "Really? – I mean _seriously_? – Uh, My Lord." He felt so lost in all the politics, not like when he had been chasing the Avatar, or when he had finally joined the Gang. Everything had been so simple, just like it was at the moment.

Zuko came to a half-open door which had a word written on it. The word was 'KaPtaen'. He dearly hoped that the word was actually the captain's name and not someone's attempt at trying to write the word captain. He carefully opened the door slightly and peered inside. It was empty of people. So far his infiltration had gone well, _too_ well. This onset of natural paranoia made him peer around, nothing appeared to jeopardize his mission; there weren't any traps around. For some reason he decided to look up as well. There was a bucket sitting on top of the door. I probably wouldn't have noticed that if I didn't spend so much time with Ty Lee, any time in fact, Zuko thought to himself as he carefully removed the bucket and set it on the floor. This was exactly what she would have considered to be a funny way of keeping unwanted intruders from entering her room.

The room itself was full of stuff: trinkets, furniture, money and weapons. This KaPtaen obviously liked to be where all the swag was kept. This was good news for Zuko, as it meant that what he was looking for was probably there as well. There was a vase full of scrolls in a corner. Zuko carefully waltzed around all the fragile treasures so as not to accidently make too much noise and started looking through the scrolls when he reached the ornate vase. After a couple of minutes he found what he was looking for.

"Gotcha," he muttered in triumph as he began his way back towards the door.

But then he heard a familiar voice and stopped in his tracks, in an unbalanced position that would probably not last long and take a couple of fragile clay statues with it.

"I'm telling you there are parts of this ship that aren't made of iron, heck the doors can't be iron, they're way too light," said the voice of the guard who had heard a cling instead of a clang. Thom, wasn't it?

"Says you, those doors are murder on my arms, it takes everything I have just to open my room's door," said the other guard, Biddle.

"Well that's cos you live in the old brig, ya daft hog monkey! All the other doors are light as a feather. Look, I'll show ya," Thom said in a confident tone. Zuko could hear footsteps approaching.

The door opened.

"Look, see how easy it is?" said Thom as he closed the door again.

"Yeah, ok, that was... wait a sec, ain't there s'posed to be a bucket of water on top of the captain's door, you know, as a security system," Biddle asked.

"Hmmm, you're right, but you gotta admit it ain't much of a security system. I mean there's no alarm for crying out loud! How are we s'posed to know if something does get pilfered?"

"How'bout by the fact that there _ain't_ no bucket of water on your head presently!"

"How 'bout you – wait a tick... do you think someone's in there...presently?" Thom asked in an almost terrified voice.

"Only one way to find out, c'mon," Biddle answered.

The door opened once again, but with two spears entering it first this time. Zuko lost his balance and fell to the floor with a crash, accompanied by the statues.

"Why, you slimy son of a turtle toad, STOP RIGHT THERE! Thom, get some help while I hold this thieving scumbag here," Biddle said as he advanced on Zuko.

Zuko, regaining his footing, nimbly dodged an impaling attack and quickly closed the distance between himself and Biddle. He slammed his fist into Biddle's face and could hear a crunching noise as Biddle fell to the ground screaming.

Zuko ran out of the door and into the small corridor. The other guard had already gone, and Zuko wasn't in the mood to stick around to find out how many friends he could muster to defend their loot. Probably all of them, as long as they were still sober enough to walk on two feet. He gazed around. At one end of the corridor was a window and if he remembered correctly, it was facing the waterfront, with no obstacles between the water below and the ship. So Zuko decided to risk it and try Escape Plan B. Cursing his rusted espionage skills, Zuko started running for the window. And just as he was about to jump through it he smelled the all too familiar smell he had always associated with firebending, oddly enough it didn't smell like burned anything but like bacon on a hot day. He really did spend too much time around Ty Lee...

There was no room to dodge and judging by the heat on his neck, the fire blast had to be close, _very_ close. If he continued with his present course, he'd be fried while jumping through the window. He had no choice but to firebend his way out of the situation. He had hoped to avoid firebending in public in the Earth Kingdom, since the Fire Nation's relations with the Earth Kingdom were, even after all these years, strained at best. But then again, these were only pirates; maybe he could play with them a little, after all, the Blue Spirit needed to make a grand reappearance.

As Zuko spun around, he brought his hands around in a wide arc, guiding the fire harmlessly around him and back towards his assailant. Just as the flames were about to hit the attacking firebender and his cohorts standing behind him, Zuko allowed to the flames to disperse into tiny spinning petals of fire that harmlessly slipped past the pirates. For most of them, this bedazzling show of elemental control was lost on them, as they were too shocked to form even the smallest cohesive thought. One of them was actually standing in a damp puddle, and Zuko sincerely doubted that it was the remains of an attempt at waterbending.

Zuko coughed slightly, to clear his throat, so he could make his voice sound gruff and intimidating. "Do you know who I am?"

There was no reply except a minor whimper from the man standing in the puddle.

"I _said_, do you know who I _am_?" Zuko asked, raising his voice.

"Y-y-you're t-the Blue Spirit! Please, don't eat our eyeballs!" stammered one of the pirates.

Eyeballs? That's a new one, Zuko thought to himself. I guess that's the sort of thing that happens to urban legends, after a while, they get creepy...-er.

"Yes, I am the Blue Spirit. And I have come to set things right. For all of you lost souls. I am going to give you a Choice. Between eternal agony in the embrace of The Infernal... Porcuslug or choose vindication and adopt a new life, where you shall help the helpless and do what is honourable." He paused for dramatic impact and let his voice drop again. _"So what's it gonna be boys?"_

"Uhm, we'll just start moving all of this loot back to their rightful owners, how'bout that?" asked a pirate who had been holding his hands out towards Zuko throughout the entire exchange, he was probably the firebender.

"Good, now beat it," Zuko told them. He had barely uttered the last syllable before the pirates lunged for KaPtaen's room.

"Well, this was easier than I had anticipated," Zuko said outloud as he strolled towards a door leading to the deck, and then casually slipped into the shadows as he left the ship.

As Zuko entered the warehouse he had stayed in for the last two days as he searched for the pirates, he heard giggling and moaning. Enthusiastic giggles and moaning intermixed with groans which made Zuko recall the time his entire crew had eaten spoiled fruits and spent the subsequent week expelling various liquids. But even with these mental images in his head, Zuko found the joyful giggling far more unnerving.

The sounds were coming from behind some large boxes in a corner. There was also a flickering light behind them which produced constantly shifting shadows on the floor and walls of the gloomy warehouse. Zuko decided to take a closer look, despite having a general ambivalent feeling towards such a daring act. What greeted his eyes was in a way, relieving and freakishly perplexing at the same time.

"Why is there a smelly, bruised hobo hanging upside down in here?" Zuko asked the giggling girl, who was standing on her hands, face to face with the hobo.

In all the years Zuko had known Ty Lee, she hadn't changed much, in appearance or personality. The only things that did change constantly were her hairstyle and outfits, although the midriff always remained exposed, to the delight of many Fire Nation boys.

"Ah, Zuzu, you're back! How'd it go with those _nasty_ pirates, hmm?" Ty Lee asked him as she cartwheeled around onto her feet. She looked very excited, like a little boy with a frighteningly large firecracker.

"Fine, got what I was looking for. And stop calling me that. Now, about that hobo," Zuko was unwilling to let the subject drop so easily.

"What do you mean, what about the hobo? I got you what you asked for," she said earnestly.

"I asked for a smelly, bruised and now drooling hobo?" An eyebrow was raised.

"Heh, no, you asked for a pirate who knew what the scrolls you were looking for were to be used for... I think," She said the last part rather uncertainly.

"And _he_ knows?" The eyebrow hadn't left its elevated position.

"Well yeah, why else would I bring him to our super secret base?"

"With you, it's sometimes hard to tell," he said as he inspected the hobo. "Did he tell you anything?"

"Oh loads!"

"About the scrolls."

"Oh, well he did say that those scrolls were the last part of a shipment of scrolls going to Ba Sing Se."

"Last part of several scrolls? Ba Sing Se? Damn, this is starting to get really worrying..."

"What do you mean? What's in the scrolls anyways? Why exactly are we here anyway?"

Leave it to Ty Lee to start asking the important questions a long time after they should have been asked. Zuko recounted the details of how during the inspection of the Easternmost naval facilities, he had decided to stop at a local bar, incognito, in order to relax a bit. There he had coincidentally overheard a discussion amongst a group of customers. They had been discussing Fire Nation military information no civilian should have had access to. After this, as the group was preparing to leave, he had ordered his two bodyguards, who had been waiting outside patiently, to go back to his ship so they could fetch more men to apprehend these people. It had been a lie, so Zuko could pursue them by himself. He needed to find out where this information had come from, what else they knew and if they were telling it to someone else who shouldn't know about it. Unfortunately for Zuko, Ty Lee, who for some strange reason had wanted to join Zuko on his naval inspection, had quickly caught up with him. As soon as she had heard what the bodyguards had to say, she had rushed off in his pursuit. Together, they had found out that the pirates had detailed copies of papers containing crucial information about the Fire Nation's military capabilities. And Zuko himself had gone off to retrieve these documents while she was to find out what the pirates intended to do with them.

"Wow..." Ty Lee said, genuinely impressed.

"I know."

"You must really be bored being the Fire Lord. Needed to spice things up a bit, eh?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Well you didn't really need to do any of this by yourself, all sneakily and such. You could probably have taken them all out in the pub, and let me pinch the truth out of them. I learned a lot of cool things from the Kyoshi warriors."

"I – no, that wouldn't have worked because... uh, bad political image and, uhm, they might not have known all the details…" Zuko told her unconvincingly.

"Riiiight-o," Ty Lee said in a sing-song voice. "And next you'll be going to Ba Sing Se to set up a rival tea shop to your Uncle's..."

"And when did you become so sar- never mind. You're right, I am going to Ba Sing Se."

"Ooh, great idea, I could use some new Earth Kingdom jewellery, and maybe one of those twisty-bendy doohickeys, and a –"

"You're not coming along," Zuko interrupted.

"WHAT?" Ty Lee's reply sounded surprisingly hurtful. "Why the hell not? I mean, I was useful, I got the baddie! And you wouldn't believe what I had to do in order to lure him here! There's only so much any woman's feminine wiles can accomplish. You owe me big time! You better have a good – "

"Ty Lee, please," this time Zuko's interruption contained a quiet yet commanding tone. "I need to have someone I can trust keeping an eye on the Council while I'm away, to tell everyone what I'm doing, and to... to... check up on her... she's been alone for almost a week now, and you know how she gets when she's alone for too long... please, Ty Lee."

"Oh, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Ty Lee said in a now calm, sympathetic voice. "Of course I'll check up on her, it's been a long time since I've seen her any way."

"Thanks Ty Lee," Zuko said as he turned around and headed out of the warehouse. Another job he had given to Ty Lee was purchasing an ostrich horse, fully saddled with enough supplies for several days. As Zuko made sure everything was strapped on properly, Ty Lee came out as well with an uncharacteristically sombre expression on her face.

"Zuko," her quiet voice was more than enough to snap Zuko's attention away from the saddle and back to her. "It's all gonna be okay someday isn't it? No more off all this – ickiness?"

Zuko was silent for a moment before he gave a firm: "Yeah."

And then he leapt on to the back of the ostrich horse and rode off. He didn't feel right. Something was wrong and he didn't know if it was with him or the world. He couldn't help but feel unsettled. It hadn't exactly been a lie, things were probably going to work out in the end, even though he wasn't sure if he believed in it himself. There was just so much... ickiness in the lives of anyone who was remotely connected to the royal family. Not to mention what he himself was doing at the moment. Why was he doing it? Like Ty Lee had said, he could have ordered someone else to take care of all of this. But they wouldn't have been as thorough as he would be, they wouldn't know what to look for, those small signs most people didn't even notice... But all of these excuses seemed hollow, with only the call of the road, its end hidden to him, filling him with a sense of reassurance and focus he hadn't felt in years. It felt like coming home after a long time away. Like scratching a really bad itch.


	2. Chapter 2: Between a Rock

Chapter 2: Between a Rock... 

The ride had been long and uneventful, along a dirt road with small flimsy trees bordering the occasional field, yet Zuko hadn't felt this excited in years. He was outside in the world, _doing_ something. Yes, ruling over a country was technically doing something, but it felt so abstract, so incorporeal, compared to actually doing something yourself instead of just issuing orders and signing papers. It was so simple. There was a road, you rode it, and then arrived at your destination. Not like dealing with all the politics of the Royal Courts, all the posturing, all those annoying social niceties you had to extend to _every single_ person you ever met. It wasn't real. This was.

He could feel all the anxiety and doubts, being washed away by the wind on his face. He knew he had been making the world a better place, but there was always a part of him that kept questioning his decisions, actions and intentions. A little voice inside his head, a remnant from all the abuse and neglect his father had parted unto him, which kept whispering in his ear: _You're not good enough. You can't make the right choices. You're a failure_. He'd experienced such ambivalence before in his life, but lately it seemed to be getting worse.

Maybe it was just because, even after all these years of peace, all the war reparations, and countless efforts at trying to earn the respect of the other nations, nothing had really changed. No one outside the Fire Nation trusted his people, trade was nearly inexistent, small border disputes with other countries were constantly plaguing the Fire Nation, and worst of all, war was constantly everyone's ideal solution to all of their problems. Hadn't anyone learned anything about the mess that was the last 100 years? So many lives had been lost, families broken, and minds scarred. And yet, people thought that another war would fix all of this?

Zuko allowed these concerns to wash away, as the calm that accompanied the road seeped inside of him. There was no point in worrying about something he couldn't do anything about in his current position. Even the initial guilt he had felt about leaving the Fire Nation alone was disappearing, the Council could easily handle all the mundane bureaucracy involved in leading a country, and Ty Lee was there to keep an eye on them, just in case.

All he had to do was relax and focus on the task at hand, which wasn't as relaxing as he had first thought. Yes, this was all fairly straight-forward; find the bad guys, figure out their motives, and stop them if necessary. It was the fact that such low class villains as the pirates he had encountered had gained such intimate details about the Fire Nation's military complex. It was perplexing to say the least. They must have had professional help. And that meant money, _lots_ of money. This in turn meant that someone very important, potentially dangerous, and brave (or stupid, depending on your point of view) enough to actually do something like this was out there, possibly plotting to hurt his country or the fragile peace he had been building for years. This was worrying to say the least.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a deep rumble from his stomach. Must be time for lunch, Zuko mused. He looked around for a spot to stop and eat, but found instead a sign indicating that a village called Gaoling was only a short distance away. There was no need to waste his supplies if there was a diner where he could buy a fresh meal. And so, he flicked the reins and galloped his way into the town.

Gaoling was a quaint, typical Earth kingdom town. The architecture was standard for an EK city, shades of brown and green prevailed, with tiled roofs of darker shades of brown and green or even black on some. As he walked onto the main street, he was barraged by a wave of sound and smell. Luckily most of the smell left by the animals, which were either for sale or used for pulling carts, was overpowered by the aromas of various products and the tantalizing scent of food. Zuko led his mount to a nearby restaurant that had a place for mounts and other animals with food for them, while their owners ate their own meals. He made sure his mount was properly tied to a post and gave the boy who took care of the animals a few golden coins. The look on his face for receiving so much money was an expression of shock and unbridled joy, until he turned around and saw what Zuko's ostrich horse had left for him. "Figures..." was his sole grumbled response to this new gift.

The restaurant's interior had a solemn, dignified air to it, accentuated by the dark maroons and purples. After the hustle and bustle of the street, it was like descending onto the bottom of an ocean. The silence was deafening. There was no music, and the customers ate and drank in silence that would have made a morgue seem like an amusement park in comparison. Everything seemed to be in suspended animation, except for the hand of the bartender at the back of the restaurant, as he cleaned a glass slowly but diligently.

Zuko elected to stay in a corner, much like every other customer. They were all wearing hoods, like Zuko was, or other items of clothing that concealed their identities just as efficiently as the hoods. It looked like Zuko had chosen Gaoling's most popular hideout for shady characters. This made him feel uneasy, not for the seemingly apparent reason of suspicious creeps, but for the fact that this place probably wasn't the best place to be if you wanted to inconspicuous. This place must stick out like a sore thumb. And attention was wanted as much as colonoscopy at the moment. What he really needed to was find some-

"Hello, sir"

Zuko let out a yelp, it was a manly yelp, but it was still a yelp. It left his face burning crimson.

"What would you like to order, sir?" asked a middle-aged waitress, expertly ignoring Zuko's embarrassed state, as to avoid further embarrassment to either of them. She wore a black uniform and her hair dark hair had grey tints to it.

"Oh, I'd just like some meat soup and jasmine tea," Zuko said as he regained his composure.

"I'll see what I can do, we don't really serve tea, you should probably have gone to the tea shop at the end of the main street, especially if you wanted something as fancy as _jasmine_ tea," the waitress said and walked away briskly.

Jasmine tea was considered fancy around here? Luckily Uncle Iroh wasn't here, or he would have gone ballistic, figuratively and literally.

Zuko decided to use the time he had to think of ways to find and capture the pirates. They were either on their way to Ba Sing Se, or already there. And if they had already arrived at the capital, there was no assurance they'd still be there when he arrived. And the party they were bringing the information to could be anywhere as well, the city was huge, or they could have left as well. His only hope was to catch them on the main road to Ba Sing Se, and he couldn't even be certain if they were using it... Zuko had to admit, this wasn't much of a plan. He needed help, more resources. But the Fire Nation couldn't help him here, besides, Zuko was adamant on his no-spies-policy, relations with the Earth Kingdom were bad enough as it was, without one of his spies being exposed, not to mention the dishonesty of sordid matters like that. No, what he really needed was-

"Your soup and tea are ready, sir."

This time Zuko managed to avoid making any kind of noise that would have indicated shock, although he did flinch a little. How did she do that, sneaking up on him so easily? And on top of that she kept interrupting his thoughts at the most critical junctions, damn it!

"Uh, thanks," He said hesitantly as he accepted the meal.

The soup was nice, warm and filling, with just the right amount of spices. The tea on the other hand should have been hanged for crimes against his taste buds. It was awful and on top of that, ice cold. Zuko peered around the restaurant; no one appeared to be looking in his direction. So he rubbed his hands together, causing them to heat up significantly, and embraced the tea cup. In a couple of seconds the tea was warm enough. It actually tasted a bit better this way, but just a bit.

After he had finished his meal (and that terrible tea), Zuko decided to find a place to sleep and formulate a better plan, as the sun was starting to set. He made sure his mount was kept in good conditions over the night, with another gold coin, a familiar look of shock and unbridled joy from the young boy, followed by a suspicious glance at Zuko's mount. Then he proceeded to walk along the streets in search of a place to sleep. Finally, at the end of a small, dark alley, he spotted a motel. Unfortunately, a small, dark alley was a perfect place for an ambush.

"Hello, sir, I couldn't help but notice the firebending you pulled off at the restaurant," a hooded man said as he strode out of the shadows with two other hooded men. Zuko turned his head and found another pair of hooded hoodlums behind him. He couldn't help but notice the irony of this moment, as a memory of him berating his Uncle for firebending his tea, which lead to similar results, flashed within his head.

"A hothead like you," – this comment drew little sniggers from the other ambushers – "might not be familiar with the Current State of Things. There's you apes with your burning of all our land, and all of us who hate your guts for it," the apparent ringleader of the gang announced, like someone who took great pride in reciting a speech that had taken hours to memorize.

Great, idiotic goons who had issues with his father's foreign policy, not that Zuko could genuinely blame them for this, but taking it out on him, even if they didn't know he was the current Fire Lord, treating a person from his country like this, after all the reparations they had made, wasn't right. He could feel his blood start to boil, but he had to resist the urge to barbecue these fools, he had to, otherwise all he had done in his life would be vain. There had to be a better way, if Aang had found it, so could he. But then again, he wasn't 'The Spirit of the Planet reincarnated in human form'.

"Look, friends, I don't want any trouble. I am just passing through, I'll be gone by tomorrow morning," Zuko said as he raised his arms in, what he hoped was taken a sign of peace instead of mistaken as an attempt to firebend.

"We're not your friends, buddy," one of the hoods behind him said.

"Actually we're not his buddies either, pal" another hood objected.

"Look, stop calling me pal, friend, it gives us a bad image" replied the previous hood.

"Like friend is any better, buddy" yet another hood pointed out.

"Enough! We've got a FN bug to squish, and I aim to please," said the ringleader. He took a wide stance and then stamped the ground, causing a large boulder to rise from the earth.

Brilliant, earthbenders who are out for my blood, this day can't possible get any better, Zuko thought as he as well assumed an attack stance.

The boulder was launched at him at a tremendous speed. Zuko jumped over it with the help of a burst of fire from his feet to propel him over it. He landed right in front of the leader as the boulder hit one of the men behind him. This left his opponent completely open as he wasn't expecting such impressive firebending after only witnessing simple tea heating. Zuko aimed a kick for the groin. It was best to take out the most dangerous as quickly as possible, and nothing did so as efficiently as an assault to another man's genitals.

As the leader collapsed onto the ground, letting out a wheezing, high-pitched gasp, Zuko grabbed the heads of the stupefied henchmen, who had been standing next to the leader, and pulled their heads together in a violent motion. They went down immediately.

Zuko turned around just in time to see the same old boulder being launched once more at him by the last hood standing. He sent a concentrated blast of fire at its centre, which caused it to explode into millions of tiny pieces. Through this debris, which acted as a smoke screen of sorts, he lunged at the last man, forcing him onto the ground. There they wrestled for a few seconds, before Zuko delivered a punch to the hood's now exposed temple.

Catching his breath on the ground, Zuko failed to notice that the leader of the gang, although still in agony, had mustered enough focus for a final assault. He tossed his hands into the air, causing a row of spikes to extend towards Zuko at a pace too fast to be dodged. All Zuko could do in that split second, was hear the sound of rumbling earth behind him, as he cursed his luck.

Luckily, the rumbling stopped before Zuko died. He sat there, panting, waiting for the final blow but after a few seconds, figured something was wrong with this assumption. He turned around and saw only a tall wall of rock, between him and his attacker. Then he heard a loud smack, from behind the wall, and an angry voice cursing.

Then all of a sudden a hole opened in the wall. A figure somehow familiar yet so different from the image Zuko had kept in his mind for over ten years, came out of the opening, pulling the leader behind her. She wore long, baggy pants, a big belt with tacks, a dark green sleeveless vest with golden symbols on it, and a golden hair band over her long bangs and holding her hair in a sort of bun thingy. He had no idea what it was called, and made a mental note to ask one his royal hairdressers one day. Most surprisingly, the figure had gained more height and other attention grabbing assets. And of course there was the lack of shoe ware of any kind. This figure inescapably had to belong to Toph Bei Fong.

"Sorry 'bout that, stranger, these boys don't know their manners. I'll personally see to it that they have some sense beaten into them. They have shamed their teacher and will pay _dearly_ for it," Toph said as she walloped the leader once again.

"Toph? Is that really you?" Zuko asked.

"Huh? Who? Wait, I know that voice... Zuko?"

"Yeah it's me," Zuko said as he lowered his own hood.

"You do remember that I'm blind, removing your hood won't really help. If you want me to get a good look at you, stomp your feet, idiot," Toph said as she chuckled rather lamely.

"Oh, sorry. It's just been so long since we've seen each other."

"..." Meaningful stare.

"I mean met."

"Yeah, it has..." came an unusually sombre reply. "Why?"

Zuko went silent with a weird sense of shame. He could have named dozens of reasons, but they all seemed like shallow lies. There was no reason good enough, no excuse to ease his guilt.

"I guess I've just been busy, with the Fire Nation and all," he said as he glanced at the ground.

Toph was silent for a moment, listening to a heartbeat, echoing in the ground and then suddenly said: "Well it doesn't matter! You're here now. Let's catch up properly at my place. I've got some great tea from the local Jasmine Dragon," she said and once again whacked the thug in her grip once more. "But first you apologise!"

"Yes, teacher," the now revealed, defeated teenager said meekly. "I'm sorry... for being racist and trying to off you and stuff."

"Hmph. I'm surprised you even knew such a hard word as racist. Now pick up your friends and get out of her before I get really mad!" she shouted as she kicked him on the butt, sending him head first into the dirt.

"C'mon Zuko, my place is just a short walk away," she said as she turned around and walked briskly out of the alley.

It took a short while for Zuko's brain to register what had just transpired in the last minute, but then he regained control, and quickly hurried after Toph.


	3. Chapter 3: And a Hard Place

Chapter 3: And a Hard Place

That night, Zuko didn't get much sleep. Toph was insatiable.

It had all started out at a slow relaxed pace. Zuko had followed Toph to her house, with an awkward silence hanging over them. They had walked out of the town and up a hill, overlooking the valley where Gaoling was settling into a peaceful night-time slumber of sorts. Lights were gently flickering down in the valley, against a warm breeze.

Toph's place turned out to be a huge mansion, easily rivalling the royal summer houses of the Fire Nation. There had obviously been a wall surrounding the estate, but most of it had been torn down, creating an eerie contrast between the messy, unkempt lawn and the beautiful house. The interior wasn't really different in any significant way. There was expensive looking furniture and trinkets everywhere, but they were in utter disarray. It was like a tornado had passed through the building, and its name was most likely Toph.

She told him to take a seat as she walked off into a different room. This turned out to be more difficult than one would expect. By the time Toph returned with a tray, carrying a pot and two cups, Zuko was still searching for a proper chair to sit on, one that wasn't broken, covered by junk, or halfway through a wall.

"Having trouble, _your Highness_?" she asked in mock politeness.

"I was just looking for a seat," Zuko said, still turning his head in search of a place to sit on.

"Pff, don't worry about that," Toph said as she stomped her foot thrice, summoning pillars of stone from the ground to act as a table and stools. "We'll just drink here."

As Zuko sat down and Toph poured them tea, the awkward silence returned once again. They sat there for several minutes, just sipping their tea. Zuko thought of mentioning to her that her tea was a lot better than the one at the restaurant, but realized that was a pretty lame thing to say, so they continued to sip their tea quetly. They were both on their third cup when Toph finally took the initiative and broke the silence.

"Soo... What have you been up to, you know, in the last decade or something?" Toph asked, while not taking her blind gaze off the tea cup.

"I've, uh, been busy, really busy, with work and all," Zuko couldn't raise his gaze from his tea either.

"Oh, well, I guess that explains _everything_."

Zuko took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry, I really am. I don't really have an excuse, it shouldn't have happened at all in the first place. I have no idea what happened. I guess we just drifted apart... and it was probably all my fault."

At this, Toph finally raised her head, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Ah, that's okay, if you really regret it. Now let me tell you what's been happening to me since you've had your head up your – uhm – you know what I mean."

And with this the suffocating silence disappeared for good. Toph told him what had happened to her after the last time they had met: she had taken up fighting in earthbending tournaments and other rare international bending tournaments. She had dominated all of the professional circuits in bending, but after a couple of years became bored with it, as there was no worth fighting in the tournaments without proper opponents. Then she had decided to travel. She had met a lot of interesting people on her journeys. But more importantly she had discovered the joy of teaching on her travels. There were so many kids in the Earth Kingdom who had the potential for earthbending in them, unfortunately their own attempts were poor at best since most of them couldn't afford proper teaching. So Toph had given them a few pointers. After a few weeks, they were erecting walls and throwing boulders like professionals. After these experiences, Toph decided to start a school of her own, with no acceptance fee, she didn't need the money, since after all, she came from a rich family and swindling money from crooks was easy as pie for her. And so, she had been teaching kids for six years now.

"And those guys in the alley were some of your students?" Zuko asked incredulously.

"Ah yeah, even though I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it" she said, scratching her head and blushing slightly. "They aren't really the best I got, you know, they've failed the final exams five times by now. But they're the only ones, I swear."

"Oh, I would never dare doubt your teaching skills, just your choice in those you teach."

"And what's that s'posed to mean?"

"Well maybe you should just kick them out, no more need to follow them around, to make sure they don't hurt innocent people. Speaking of which, why didn't you step in before things got serious?"

"Oh, I was about to, but then you went off shooting like a rocket, so I decided to let them receive a fire flavoured beat down before I served them my unique style of scolding."

They both let out their first genuine laughs for the night, but definitely not the last.

"Hahaha, oh man," – snicker – "but I don't even know why you were there in the first place yet," Toph said as she gulped some tea.

"Well, to put it simply, some pirates stole information about the Fire Nation's military and I'm here to track them down."

"By yourself? Hah, you really suck at being a ruler. Ever heard of delegating?"

"I'd like to see you try and lead a country from the confines of a castle for several years. Besides if I hadn't come here, we wouldn't have met."

"I'll drink to that!" Toph shouted and took a deep swig from her cup.

"Hahaha, wait, what kind of tea is this anyway?"

"Really strong... I have no idea...hic, hihih"

"I don't think this is regular tea, haha."

"I think you're right, pffahahahaaa."

And their conversation continued on like this throughout the most of the night, laughing, drinking, and trading stories of their little personal adventures over the years. Toph was more than eager to share life stories with Zuko, she was especially interested in royal wardrobe for some reason, and wouldn't stop laughing whenever he mentioned the royal hairpieces. Zuko guessed that the reason for the ease of reconnection was due to the fact that they had lived rather similar lifestyles. They had both lived rich lives, but enjoyed the years adventuring the most. And of course there was the tea, he shouldn't have forgotten the wonderful tea...

Zuko woke up to a terrible headache in the morning, no, it couldn't be morning since the sun was so high. He jerked up suddenly, which he regretted immediately. It felt like he had been using his head for earthbending target practice. Eventually he managed to look around. He was sitting on the table Toph had made for them. But he couldn't see Toph herself anywhere. He decided to stand up to go and find her, or a toilet at least. As he stepped off the table, he fell into a crater he hadn't noticed in his numbed state of mind. At the bottom of the crater he found Toph, as their heads collided together.

"AAWWGHH!!" they shouted in perfect unison. They struggled briefly, but only got further entangled.

"What are you doing?! Get off me, don't think you can take advantage of me like this, just cos, cos –" Toph's protests were cut short, by Zuko and her own mind failing to come up with any real reason.

"Oh shut up, who's touching who inappropriately here anyway?" Zuko said annoyed. He didn't have time for this. The pirates already had a significant head start on him, and he'd wasted the entire evening and morning, which he had originally meant as time for inventing a better plan and furious riding in their pursuit. He was angry at himself, and Toph to a certain extent, after all she was the one who had given him the tea.

"Ugh, I need to get out of here, I need to catch those pirates, I need..."He managed to untangle himself from Toph and tried to climb out of the pit they were in. "I need more time, I need, need... help."

Then he collapsed onto the floor and fell to sleep once again along with Toph.

When the pair of benders woke up again, the sun was starting to set once more.

"Damn it! I've wasted a whole day here!" Zuko screamed. A voice inside his head whispered: _What did I tell you, you're a failure, always was, always will be_. A breath of fire escaped his mouth before he regained control over his emotions.

"Toph, get us out of here, _now_!" Zuko said in a manner that suggested that failure to comply would not be tolerated.

"Geez calm down, Mr. Gloom'n'Doom," Toph got up, holding her head. As she regained her sense of direction and stable footing, she thrust her hands upwards, lifting them out of the crater.

Zuko flew out of the house without a word. He was so angry, he thought smoke was actually pouring out of his nostrils and ears. He really hoped this wasn't really the case. Running through the town with his head smoking, would've been the last straw. He had to catch up to the pirates, or he'd never find them. Worst of all, he had left Toph without even a goodbye. Could things possible go so wrong, so easily, so incredibly quickly? He made a silent vow he'd come back and apologise for his behaviour, later, now he had a mission to complete, and not a second could be wasted.

He bolted through the town's streets like lightning, nimbly dodging, and occasionally knocking down a passing pedestrian. As he rounded the corner, and saw the restaurant with the stable he had left his mount in, he couldn't do anything but gape in bewildered shock. He stood there completely motionlessly, as an unnameable terror griped his innards and froze him solidly to the core. The restaurant had burned down to nothing but high stacks of ash. The stable was still standing though, however it was empty.

After about five minutes, Toph showed up.

"Woah, looks like we weren't the only ones who had a rough night," she said as she reached Zuko. "Hey, Zuko, anyone home?"

She waved her hand in front of his face but received no reaction whatsoever. "Huh..." she contemplated on the problem at hand. Maybe he'd react to a punch to the shoulder. Thump. Nothing. "Huh..."

She looked around. There was a boy working his way through the wreckage, probably seeking anything that hadn't completely been obliterated by the fire.

"Hey! Kid! Yeah, you! Get over here!" she beckoned.

As the boy reached the place where the duo was standing, one tapping her foot impatiently, the other starting to develop a nasty looking twitch in his good eye, Toph asked him: "What happened here?"

"Well some of the customers, the lot that shows up after three in the morning, got a bit too rowdy, and well one thing lead to another, and then there was this guy selling fireworks, and then some hog monkeys came out of nowhere, and then there was this whole brawl before the guards showed, and then it was all like piff paff pow pew pew –"

"Okay okay, I get the picture, now get lost. Me and my, uh, catatonic vegetable of a friend here have things to discuss." Toph said as she waved goodbye to the boy standing in front of her. He didn't like being patronized, but he knew you shouldn't be mean to handicapped people. As he walked off, he wondered how a blind chick and cat-catatron-catatactic, whatever, person got around any way. It was probably best not to think too much about it, as his Pops always used to say.

Toph started prodding Zuko, then gently punching, and finally slapping. None of it worked, apparently nothing could release Zuko from his stupor. Well, if Toph had learned anything on her travels around the world, it was that there was always one specific way to grab a man's attention, though this time, she surmised, a kick would probably work better than a squeeze. So she took aim, and launched a brutal kick to Zuko's royal family jewels.

"GYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHOOOWWWWMMMMGGGGGOOOOSSSSSHHHHHOOOOOOOOWWHHYYYYOOHHWWHHYYY?!?!!?"

"Why? There was a 'why', right? Well I was starting to get bored with your glazed gaze," She said with a surprising amount of conviction.

"That's – no – reason – urgh – bleh," said Zuko with little conviction as he continued to squirm on the ground.

"Well nothing else was working."

"Couldn't you – have done – something – less painful... like throw – a boulder – at me?"

"No time for that, besides why did you rush here in the first place?"

"I, ugh, needed to get, agh, back on the road t-to follow those pirates I told yugh about."

"Oh, and this was where your ride was?"

"Yeah..."

"Hmmm, oh boy, Zuko, to be completely honest here, I don't think that's an option anymore."

"I _know_ that," Zuko said with a growl. "Now what am I s'posed to, uh, do? I messed up again..."

"Well you could start by getting up, and then we could think of a new plan... over some more tea, perhaps?"

"Grrrr," came the teeth clenched reply.

"Don't worry we'll go to the Jasmine Dragon here, and get some normal tea. Seriously, I had no idea that tea was so, uhm, potent. And there we can come up with a new plan. C'mon Zuko, we've been through worse, a few pirates shouldn't pose a real problem."

Zuko remained on the ground, brooding, as the pain slowly disappeared. Then suddenly it hit him, possibly even harder than Toph's kick.

"Wait, did you say Jasmine Dragon?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Where?"

"At the end of the street."

For a man who had just been kicked in the groin, Zuko ran incredibly quickly, even if it was slightly lopsided. He soon found the Dragon, barged in, and looked around. There had to be a Pai Sho table around here. His Uncle wouldn't tolerate one of his fine tea shops lacking such a fundamental commodity. And there, in the corner it was, with an elderly lady sitting on one side, calmly sipping her tea.

He sat down on the other side of the game board, gingerly of course. He laid down a white lotus piece on the centre of the board.

"I see you favour the White Lotus gambit. Not many are left who still cling to the ancient ways," the woman said.

"Those who do can always find a friend," Zuko recited.

"Then let us play."

The old woman calmly gazed at him, before she placed a tile of her own. They continued placing tiles until a giant lotus was nearly formed on the board with Zuko's tile in the centre. By now Toph had caught up and was now standing behind Zuko with look of utter confusion. Zuko was playing Pai Sho now? Maybe she had kicked him too hard, sending his nuts to where his brain used to be.

"Welcome Brother, the White Lotus opens wide to those who know its secrets," the woman said as the last tile was placed.

"Thank you Sister, I am in desperate need of immediate assistance. The fate of the world could depend on it," Zuko said.

"Oh you youngsters and your melodrama," the woman said as she carefully glanced at Toph. "If your situation is indeed so dire, perhaps we should relocate, to a place with fewer prying ears."

"I guess you're right," Zuko replied and then turned to Toph, "Could you wait here while I, uh, finish things here."

"Zuko, what's going on here?"

"Remember the Order of the White Lotus? Well, I'm a member and since you aren't, well, I can't let you join us... sorry," He added. All of this seemingly aimless running around wasn't really fair on Toph, but, he reminded himself, he didn't have any more time to waste.

"O-kay," Toph said in a rather dreamy voice, as she went through her memories, seeking relevant moments to this one. She had no idea what was going on, but could tell that this wasn't a good time to hinder Zuko with her witticisms. As Zuko left the board and went to the back of the tea shop, Toph decided to sit down. She sat on Zuko's chair. As she sat there, coming to grips with the situation at hand, she started wondering how such a secret order could just leave all of their tiles in the form of the their secret symbol on game boards without anyone finding out about them. She decided to gather them up, as she didn't really know what else to do.

She started to recollect the events that had lead to this moment, along with the tiles. She had met Zuko in an alley, being ambushed by her students. As if that hadn't been awkward enough, the actual conversation had been even worse. Luckily after the initial shock at meeting Zuko again after so many years, she had quickly regained control of the situation. It gave her enough confidence to allow them a proper chance to reconnect, even though it had taken its fair share of awkwardness to happen as well. Then it had gotten easier, enjoyable actually. It was probably that tea she had bought. Although she didn't think it was fair to blame her for the tea mishap, she _was_ blind after all. Then the two had woken up in a rather... unrefined position. And after that Zuko had run off mysteriously. And she hadn't really been enlightened any further on the situation after that.

She remembered that Zuko was after some kind of pirates or something, and that the Order of the White Lotus had helped during Sozin's Comet. Woah, that sure was a long time ago, 13 years or something? And now Zuko was a member? Why wasn't she one? Well, in any case, this was probably all for the better. If these flower power guys had helped in liberating Ba Sing Se, along with Iroh, they could probably help with the pirates.

By the time Zuko returned, Toph had made up her mind about several things.

"Hmm, I should get the information I want by tomorrow, and the White Lotus promised to do all they could to resolve this issue as well. This could all turn really nasty if we do nothing," Zuko said as he sat down on the other side of the board. He gave it a small glance and raised an enquiring eyebrow. "What happened to all the tiles?"

"Don't worry, I have them, flame breath," Top told him as she turned her blind eyes on Zuko. "Zuko we need to talk."

"Yeah, I know, this must all seem pretty crazy and I'd like to apologize for –"

"Stuff it Zuko, I'm talking now," she said in a serious tone. Zuko stared at her with a surprised look on his face.

"When you turned up, and after that night we had, I've realized something. I'm bored. And chasing you around, and being involved with all this mysterious business is the most excitement I've had in years. So I've decided to join you on your little quest."

"Wha-?" Zuko's jaw dropped slightly. "Wait, don't you have a school to run."

"Hey, it's not like I can gate fired, it's my school and furthermore, no one's paying me anything. So I've decided to join you."

Zuko was silent, thinking. He felt like he still owed Toph something. He could probably use all the help he could get, and who could be more reliable than someone from the old Gang. Which lead him to his next idea. "Alright, why not. Maybe we can even get the rest of the guys to help as well. The Order has some of the fastest messenger hawks in the world. We could even get Aang and Appa to carry us around, that would really help speed things along." He could feel his heart start to beat faster as he got excited. He could still stop those pirates, and silence that voice in his head that had been belittling him since this whole thing started.

"Uhm, Zuko," Toph said quietly.

"What?"

"Haven't you heard? No one's seen Aang for almost ten years."

And with that sombre statement, Zuko's heart skipped a couple of beats, as that all too familiar terror snuck back into his spirit.


	4. Chapter 4: The Taste of Dirt

Chapter 4: Shame, Betrayal and the Taste of Dirt

How could he not have noticed something like the Avatar going missing! _Ten_ years ago! It just didn't make any sense. Zuko would be the first to admit that his work as the Fire Lord had consumed all of his attention, but missing the disappearance of the Avatar, of Aang, how could it possibly have happened? Not only was the Avatar an important part of the political scene in the post-war world, but Zuko had thought he had been a better friend to Aang than that. _Ten-frikkin-years!_ It just didn't make sense. They had met regularly after the Comet, but then Aang had stopped dropping by. At first Zuko had been relieved, as his workload seemed to grow larger and larger with every passing month. Then, eventually, he had been worried for a while, until a series of rebellions had taken all of his attention. After that... he had simply forgotten about Aang, about everyone outside the Fire Nation, unless they had something to do with the other nations' foreign policies towards his country.

He had _never_ felt so ashamed in his life. He had let the people closest to him down again. He had _failed_ them all. There must have been something he could have done. But as he found out, there was nothing anyone could have done. Aang had left on some sort of spiritual mission, not telling anyone what he was going to do or where.

"But why didn't any of you come to tell me?" he said in a raspy voice.

"After we went looking for Aang, and when we couldn't find him, we did try to send you a message."

"A message? Well obviously I never got it, did I?" Zuko said in a dangerously accusing tone.

"Hey, don't blame me for this, hothead, I did try to visit you, but the Fire Nation was having some kind of civil war or something. I couldn't find you," the last bit was delivered with a note of sadness.

"And then what? You just gave up?!"

"Hey look, I did the best I could, and then... I had to deal with some family issues, ok?!" A rising anger was apparent in her voice

Well that was a response Zuko could accept, he knew full well how distressing family issues could be. But he had an urge to point out that any family issues Toph might have had couldn't possibly been as bad as his, considering how well he had handled all of it. Luckily a more reasonable aspect was able to hold his barbed tongue in check before it let loose something really stupid and regrettable.

"Sorry, what about the others?"

"Well I guess they were too busy running their countries as well to pay any special attention to your Highness," Toph sniped, still feeling angry at the way Zuko had pushed her to her own outburst.

"Hey, I already said I was sorry," Zuko fumed right back at her.

They sat silently for a minute or too, both looking around to look at various objects in Toph's house, making sure to avoid each other's eyes, which was rather weird for both of them, considering that one of them was blind. Zuko assumed it was just a mannerism she had picked up, but in any case, it was starting to annoy him, which in turn only annoyed him further, as he thought he had gained better self-control over the years.

"So what are we going to do now, secret agent man?" Toph asked, once again breaking an awkward silence between them.

"We wait for the Order to deliver the information we need."

"Now that you mention it, how _did_ you join the Order?"

"Through my Uncle, we both agreed that it would be in everyone's favour if the new Fire Lord was a part of the Order."

"Did you get any cool gadgets?" Toph asked, feeling more at ease with Zuko again.

"What? Of course not," was the curt reply.

"Some secret organization that is," Toph said with a smirk. "I don't think I want to join it anymore."

Zuko smirked right back at her, as he gave a little chuckle.

"So, since we've got a lot of time on our hands, what do you do around here to kill it?" he asked her.

"Want some more tea?" Smirk.

***

Early next morning, a message was delivered to them by a familiar looking little boy. He was quite dirty, but he had somehow managed to deliver the sealed scroll to them in pristine condition. As he received a tip from Zuko, he made a bewildered face.

"That's it?" he said, unabashed by his own arrogance.

"Were you expecting another gold coin from me after you let my ostrich horse run off with all of my supplies?" Zuko asked him as he gave the kid a reserved glare.

"Figures..." The boy mumbled to himself and then walked off with his head lowered.

"Little punk..." Zuko muttered as he went back inside Toph's house, opening the scroll as he walked to the living room.

He quickly skimmed through it, raised an eyebrow and reread it with more care this time. He was visibly displeased with the information.

"What is it?" Toph asked, worried. She could sense that something was wrong.

"Damn, but I should have guessed it," Zuko said, lost in his personal little hell.

"Zuko, _what _is it?"

"Huh, sorry, turns out the pirates had inside help, someone in the Fire Nation betrayed me, an admiral called Fu Bai... He sold us all out!" Zuko shouted the last part as he punched a wall, flames erupting on contact.

"Hey! Watch the decor, man!"

"Sorry," Zuko said as he withdrew his hand from a smouldering crater in the wall.

They were both quiet for a short while until Toph asked: "So what are we gonna do now?"

"I have to go back to the Fire Nation, make this back-stabbing scum pay for this and start an internal investigation, to find out if there are any more traitors. I had really thought we ran out of opposers to my new politics years ago, with the rebellions, but I guess I was wrong..."

"Don't beat yourself up too badly, could have happened to anyone. Besides, as far as I can tell, your doing a fine job leading the Fire Nation."

"Since when did you become politically aware?"

"I never did, I'm just trying to make you feel better, dumb-dumb."

"Uh, thanks, I guess."

"But what about those pirates you were chasing in the first place, you're just gonna let them go?"

"Damn it, I'd totally forgotten about those sleaze balls," Zuko thought about this for a while. "Toph, can you follow them? I've got their estimated travel plans here on the scroll."

"By myself?"

"What, are you scared? I mean they are big, hairy, stinky pirates after all, no one will blame you for turning your back on them."

"Shut it, Fire Lard, I just thought we were going to go out to adventure, like we used to is all."

"Sorry Toph, but I really need to return to the Fire Nation, before this situation escalates. But I still need to have those pirates captured, so the information doesn't get into the wrong hands, and right now, you're one of the few people I can trust."

"Oh, ok, why didn't you say so before," Toph said with the slightest of blushes that disappeared almost instantaneously.

"Good, here's the scroll and we should probably set up a rendezvous point and time, so I can come and retrieve the pirates you've caught," Zuko said absentmindedly as he handed her the scroll.

"Uh, Zuko, blind girl here, can't really read anything."

"Oh sorry," Zuko said, this time blushing slightly himself. It was just so easy to forget that Toph was blind, what with her bending acting as more than an adequate substitute for her eyes. "They're taking the eastern main road to Ba Sing Se."

"Right, and I've thought of a rendezvous point, how 'bout Serpent's Point?"

"Sounds good to me. Meet there in three days?"

"Sounds good to me"

"Okay, let's get going then," Zuko said as he led the way out of the house. "I'm going down to the tea house, to get us some mounts."

"No need for that, I'll just use bending to chase them, it's probably faster than any mount you'll find in this town," Toph said as she walked towards the road, leaving Zuko behind to ponder exactly how bending could be used for such fast travel.

"Well I'll still need a mount," he said as he joined Toph on the road.

"Heh, too bad there isn't a comet around so you could just blast your way back to the Fire Nation."

"Yeah... look Toph, I really appreciate your help on this, I really needed someone who could help," Zuko said in a quiet voice. He looked at Toph, for a reaction, but she had already turned her back on him.

"Yeah, no problem really, it was nice meeting you too..." she said in an almost equally soft monotone. But then she seemed to regain her usual confident posture and said, rather cockily: "Well, time's a wasting, and I really don't want to see you get all weepy and sentimental on me, so I'll just say goodbye and see you in three days."

"Yeah see ya-" Toph bended the earth under her feet, causing a sort of miniature avalanche to propel her forward at an amazing pace, before Zuko could finish his goodbye and spraying him with dirt in the process.

So that's how you travel with earthbending, Zuko thought with a mouth full of dirt. He didn't really care for it.


	5. Chapter 5: Toph Alone

Chapter 5: Toph Alone

As Toph pounded her way down the road, causing the ground around it to tremble, thus scaring countless livestock to rampage in fear and destroying several crude storage huts by avalanches to the irritation of many farmers, she decided to take some time to consider the situation she was in. Zuko was back, after a decade of being AWOL from the rest of the Gang. Not that the others had been setting a pristine example of constant reliable communication amongst friends either. They were all busy leading their own little corners of the world, everyone except her. At times she felt a slight twang of guilt for her lack of asserting political power on a world that owed her and her friends big time, but then she was reminded of how boring court life had been, with its strange, convoluted, unnecessary political niceties and manners. And then there was of course _the bureaucracy_. Ugh, how did Zuko and the others manage to put up with all that crap? She didn't really want to know as she would have no use for such information, but it would have been nice to know what the hell her old friends were thinking.

At first she had been busy just enjoying her life and the peace she had help usher into the world, but as her friends set out to make it a better place, leaving her behind, she had started drifting. She had travelled around the world without any proper purpose other than seeing what it had left to offer her. At first all she found was a regrettable amount of ignorance concerning the rest of the world, anger still seething after the war, and a rather depressing state of, well, everything. Then Aang had disappeared, with the search for him taking almost a year. After that her parents had died in some freaky accident involving hog monkeys. At first she had felt nothing, feeling almost glad that they weren't there to constantly harass her with their incessant caring. But after a couple of weeks, the lose hit her like a ton of bricks. Her parents were gone. They would never again ask her if she was ok, inquire her for her wellbeing, and never share a dinner together. She deeply missed everything about them that had always aggravated her. She had spent the following week wallowing in misery.

Then a sudden rage had filled her, taking her up to the mountains where she had thrown boulders, crushed mountains and generally remodelled the landscape to reflect her fury and pain. From this anger, however, a calming acceptance had risen, which had forced her to re-examine her life. As much as she had loved her parents, they weren't the best people in the world. They had hidden behind their wealth, using her as an excuse for it. She wouldn't do that, she would use her family's vast wealth to make the world a better place. She had seen all the troubles that plagued the world: ignorance, hatred and pain. She realized that the only way she could change the lives consumed by these poisons was to show the people a better way. She decided to teach.

And now she had forsaken her mission, her purpose in life. To do what exactly? Go adventuring like she had in the good old days with the Gang. She could feel the same excitement fill her as it had when they were fighting Fire Lord Ozai. But was the situation desperate enough like it had been back then? There would be no scorched earth this time, would there? So Zuko had a traitorous admiral who was working with pirates, so what? The greedy slime ball probably wanted some extra money. It wasn't like the whole world was in danger. Although Zuko sure had seemed worried… She hoped this wasn't just a wild lizard goose chase, that this was really worth abandoning all her students. It was a lot more fun though, she had to admit.

Suddenly the undulating earth under her feet started to feel heavier and harder to bend. It was also starting to develop a wet quality to it. Damn, she must already be approaching the swamp through which the road passed on its way to Ba Sing Se. She liked mud, but the wetter it became, the harder it would be to bend it. High speed avalanche bending for travel would be out of the question. She jumped off the rumbling earth, and landed in the mud with a satisfying squelch. She would have to walk for a while until she could sort of skate on the really wet mud.

As she made her way down the road, Toph noticed a small hut on the side of the road. She felt footstep reverberating through the ground originating from the hut. She could smell the aroma of food wafting from it. Her stomach gave a small growl. Maybe she could stop here, to, you know, see if anyone had seen pirates on dry land (they should be pretty easy to spot), and if she got a little food out of it, so much the better.

She walked up to an open door, and knocked on the frame. "Excuse me, but do you have any food – I mean – have you seen any shady characters passing through?"

"Besides a blind girl walking about like she can see, despite the fact that she can't?" a young girl's voice answered, then added: "And not knowing what to ask from perfect strangers?"

"Uh, yeah," Toph said, slightly taken aback by the response. "You know, like pirates on dry land?"

"Now _that_ would be weird," the girl said, taking a step towards Toph. "Blind girl who can see and pirates on land, this day just keeps getting weirder."

"So you've seen them?"

"It's kind of hard not to, when they're robbing you blind. No offense meant."

"None taken, no one robbed my eyesight. Now, where'd they go?"

"Why do you want to know? Wanna join up with your friends?"

"They're not my friends; the scumbags stole something from me as well."

"Really? Then you're off to catch them?"

"As soon as you tell me where they went."

"And you'll do what, ask them politely? Stare them down with those blank eyes of yours? No, if you're going then I'm going too. They stole from my granma and me as well. I can waterbend, a little at least."

"Kid, how old are you?"

"Why does that matter?"

"That young, huh? Well, it's not really all that important… Just tell me where they went and I'll get your stuff back along with mine, ok? I'm a master earthbender, I use earthbanding to see. And if anyone can stop them, it's me."

Toph could hear the girl grumble, using the occasional profanity to describe her, but she ignored it. She didn't have time to get in a fight with a little kid, especially if the pirates were close by.

"We managed to scare them off, so they ran off into the swamp," the girl gave a strained response.

The swamp? But Toph couldn't follow them there. There wasn't enough solid ground there, it was mostly all water with hard to bend mud deep under the surface. "Damn it," she said out loud.

"What?" asked the little girl.

"Damn, damn, damn. I can't follow them in there. I need solid ground to know where I'm going, to bend properly," Toph answered quickly, desperately thinking of an alternative way to catch the pirates. She was so close. She couldn't let them get away now.

She could practically feel a wave of smugness wash over her as the girl broke into a smirk. "I guess you'll be needing my help after all."

***

Toph sat in a boat, which was still moored to a crude wooden platform. She sat there, grumpy at her misfortune. There were apparently only seven pirates, and if a little girl and her grandmother had managed to scare them off, then she herself shouldn't have had any problems in dealing with them. But _no_, they just had to go to the one place in the Earth Kingdom where she couldn't pursue them properly, a swamp. A smelly, disgusting swamp. She was starting to form a new opinion concerning mud. One that wasn't as positive as she had expected.

"You and your new friend be careful out there, there's all kinds of vile, nasty things in that swamp… and those pirates were pretty bad too," the voice of an elderly women croaked as the boards of the platform creaked under footsteps.

"Granma, we're not friends, we're just getting back what's ours. And besides didn't you see what I did to them earlier with my waterbending?" answered the girl.

"A lukewarm bath they desperately needed? I'm sorry, hon, but it was mostly my pitchfork that drove them off."

"Granma –" the girl started.

"Now that I think about it, you should probably take it yourself. I won't need it, there's nothing left to steal, except some old biscuits. Which reminds me, you have your lunch with you? I packed extra for your friend."

"Granma, please, we're all ready," the girl said and then whispered, "you're starting to embarrass me."

"Sorry, dear. Just be careful with your new friend, that's all I'm saying. Bye. Love you dearie." Toph could hear a wet smack from the platform, followed by an "Igh" from the girl.

"Granma, I told you don't kiss me on the cheek in public… We'll be fine, bye bye," she said hurriedly as she jumped on the boat.

"Be back by supper!" Granma said.

"We will," the girl told her as she untied the mooring and pushed the boat off the platform. She then started waving her arms, causing the water around them to gently push them along.

After several minutes of their silent voyage, Toph realized she didn't even know the young girl's name. Hesitantly, she asked: "So, uh, what's your name, kid?"

"Mei Jing Yan," the girl answered curtly.

"I'm Toph Bei Fong… So, how'd you learn to waterbend?" Toph asked, hoping to stir up some conversation on what was bound to be a long uneventful journey.

"A raccoon taught me," Mei said, staring intently at the bog they were headed for.

"A raccoon? That is so weird, I was taught earthbending by badger moles."

Mei gave Toph a funny look. "I was making a joke, I learned from the swamp people."

"Oh, really?" Toph said, blushing slightly.

"Yeah…" Mei said uneasily, then added "Badger moles? Are you crazy? Animals can't teach bending."

"Yes they can," Toph insisted, trying to regain what little composure she had left around this weird girl.

"Right, and dragons and lion turtles are off on a big picnic together," Mei said. "Next you'll be telling me…" She stopped bending and crouched down next to Toph. "Shh!"

"What, did we find the pirates?" Toph whispered, turning her head around, trying to hear something, as hearing was the only sense she could count on in the present circumstances. Finally she heard distant, angry yelling.

"Unless the swamp people are having another hoedown - or was it a shindig? - it's probably them."

"Alright, time to take some names and kick some ass," Toph said as she stepped out of the boat. And splashed head first into the deep swamp water.

"Idiot!" Mei shouted as she started desperately waving her hands in order to lift Toph out of the water with bending. It wasn't as easy as she had thought. Only bubbles served as an indication that Toph was still under the water. "Damn it!"

She got ready to jump in after her, but just as she was about to jump, she was struck in the stomach by a small flying log. She fell back into the boat as a small lithe figure jumped down on her, pinning her hands down.

"Well, well, what do have here, eh? Fresh meat, ripe for picking," a short man with a large moustache covering up most of his weaselly features said as he sniffed her gently. "Mmmm, ripe indeed."

"Get your filthy paws off me!" Mei screamed at him.

"All in due time, my sweet," the man said.

"Hey, what you got there, Jimi?" a gruff, deep voice asked from somewhere beyond Mei's vision.

"Remember that little shack we jacked, well it's that that crap-shack's tasty little girl. Guess she just couldn't resist my raw animal magnetism."

"You're sick," said both Mei and the deep voice in unison.

"Whateva, let's take her back to camp before we cause a ruckus," Jimi said, lifting Mei up and as he pinched some nerves in her shoulders, causing her arms to go limp. "She's a waterbender, I seen her try at least," he added, feeling a need to explain his actions to his companion.

"Right, but hand her to me. I don't trust you with little girls," said the other man, who Mei could now see. He was a burly man with thinning hair. He had small eyes that seemed to be squinting at all times.

"Fine, Yank, deprive a man of his entertainment in this spirit forsaken, boring swamp," Jimi said as he tossed Mei over to him, who was standing on the roots of a giant tree.

Yank put Mei on his shoulder and turned around. He started walking towards the angry shouting, when a sudden rumbling stopped him in his tracks.

"What was that? Your stomach again, Jimi?" Yank asked as he turned back around.

"No, me," said a mud covered pile of smelly goo as it broke the swamps's surface, emerging on top of a stone pillar. The goo moved, a smaller pillar of rock spurted from the one it was standing on, hitting Yank in the face, knocking him out. Yank fell to the ground, sending Mei tumbling hazardously close to falling off the giant roots she was on.

"Ah! It's the Goo Fiend of the Swamp!" Jimi shouted in fear.

"Ah, put a sock in it," the goo said as it sent a thick glob of mud into Jimi's mouth. The mud went so far down his throat that he started suffocating. He coughed furiously, trying to get rid of the goo. Then he suddenly passed out.

"Damn, don't want to kill him," said the pile of goo as it summoned the glob back. Then it jumped on to the boat and crouched down to check if Jimi was still among the living.

"Oh, good. Still breathing. Good thing I didn't need to give you mouth-to-mouth, since truthfully, you stink more than I do, and I'm completely covered in smelly swamp goo," said the pile of goo as it jumped onto its pillar and from there onto the thick roots.

"Toph? That you?" Mei asked, trying to sit up. It was surprisingly hard when you couldn't use your arms.

"Unfortunately, yes," Toph said as she shook herself out of the muddy encasing she was in. "You can bend the mud off, but the smell will be there for days." – sigh – "I wish I knew how to stinkbend."

"That was amazing! I thought you were dead!" exclaimed Mei.

"I did too for a while, until I reached rock bottom, literally. The rest you saw for yourself," Toph explained as she walked carefully towards Mei. "Mind helping me out? I can't really use wood to see, even though it kind of tremors like earth."

"Sorry, they got my arms," Mei said.

"Those bastards cut off your hands?!"

"Wha? No, they went all numb an' stuff," Mei said raising an eyebrow, an effort totally lost on Toph.

"Oh, yeah, that makes more sense. You'd be screaming in pain otherwise, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, brilliant reasoning there, but what now? I can't' do anything, and you're just as useless if you don't have earth under your feet."

"Hmm, good point, although I object to being completely useless, seeing as I just saved your butt," Toph said as she flicked some mud off her hand, in the general direction she assumed Mei was in. "And while I was down there, on rock bottom, I got a good look at our surroundings. There's a small island with five people on it, short distance off. They must be the guys we're looking for."

"Yeah, most likely. That's where they were carrying me by the look of it. What's your point?" Mei asked as she tried to stand up, achieving feeble wobbling, which ended with her face hitting the immense roots they were standing on instead. "Auh…"

"I have a plan," Toph said, oblivious to her companion's blight.

***

"So, anyone care to remind me, why exactly are we in this stinking swamp?" a short, fat, grubby man, called Dang, asked his fellow scoundrels.

"We're hiding from that old lady with a mean right hook and pointy pitchfork," explained Elric, a tall, skinny man, who rubbed his backside delicately at the memory.

"That's it? I mean, we're not the best fighters, but we've got the mighty Zhen Han here as backup," Dang said as he pointed at a tall man standing in the shadows, in a dark green robe that covered all of his features. "He was a Dai Li agent once, right? He could have easily taken them all out."

The man in the robes stirred, raising his head slightly. "You are correct in both of your statements."

"Then why didn't you?" asked Dang.

"I do not steal from the weak. I was hired to protect you on your voyage, to ensure that your message is delivered to the proper recipient, not to contribute to the social detriment your kind causes."

"Pah, yeah right," Dang grumbled, "Then why didn't you protect Elric there when he got poked?"

"I should have been more specific. I was hired to protect you from genuine threats, not old ladies with 'mean right hooks'."

Dang cursed at the shaded figure under his breath, mentally visualising the former Dai Li agent's demise, one with spikes and crushing and general unpleasantness involved. His fantasies were, however, cut short, when Elric interrupted them by mentioning the prolonged absence of their two other companions.

"Hmmm, you're right, they've been gone a long time, those two," Dang said, scratching his unshaved chin.

"Maybe they – Plargh!" Elric's answer was interrupted as he was hit by a large pile of mud from above. There was enough mud to completely cover him up.

"What the?" Dang shouted in startled shock as his other two silent comrades were also stricken by massive amounts of mud from the trees. A giant glob was heading for him as well, but he jumped and rolled away just in time to avoid it.

Han had also been a target, but he had been able deflect the mud using earthbending. He was now thumping the ground furiously with his right foot, causing a small earthquake.

The tremors caused the giant trees around them to shake violently, until a small woman fell down from them, hitting the ground, but bouncing back up as the ground shifted to accommodate her fall. The woman landed onto the ground in a wide stance, ready to defend herself. This was a prudent decision as rocky spikes emerged to impale her.

She thrust her hands up, causing the earth under her feet to rise, creating a safe platform, which took the brunt of the attack. The spikes had however caused enough damage to the platform, that it stated to wobble uneasily.

Han, ripped off his robe, revealing green crystal spikes under it, attached to a belt. He pulled on a chord and all of the spikes fell onto the ground, sticking up in the ground. As Toph gained control over the wobbling platform, Han started kicking the crystal towards Toph. At the touch of his foot, the spikes shifted into small serrated disks, spinning dangerously towards Toph. But for Han, this wasn't enough, he once again sent a tremor through the ground, causing Toph's platform to wobble.

Toph grunted loudly as she once again thrust her hands upwards, making the platform levitate. This way she avoided the tremors and could use what remained of the platform as a shield against the crystal disks. The disks sank deep into the platform. Han raised his fists and opened them, causing the disks inside the floating platform to explode, shattering it in the process.

Toph fell down along with the rubble. A dust cloud erupted as all the debris hit the ground. Han took the opportunity to throw chunks of the ground into the middle of it.

In the chaos, a small, fat man sneaked off into the shadows.

As the dust cloud began to dissipate, Han moved in closer to inspect the damage he had inflicted on the island, and hopefully on his mysterious assailant. But what he found was nothing but rubble.

He looked around, then up into the trees. His attacker had come from there initially, perhaps she had escaped there again.

Suddenly, a large pillar erupted from the ground, hitting Han in the stomach. Toph emerged with a shower of rubble from the ground behind him, launching a stone at the back of his head, knocking him out instantly.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Toph said to the slumped over man lying on the ground.

Toph, felt a swish of air next to her head. She had been in enough fights to know that it was a projectile. She immediately erected a wall, against which, she heard several heavy thumps.

She used her seismic senses and noticed that one of the pirates had managed to make his way out of the mud he had been covered in. She slid her foot in his direction, causing a fissure to open, leading up to the man, into which he fell promptly.

Toph checked on the other pirates. As far as she could tell, they were all incapacitated. Then she realized that one of them was missing. She stretched her perceptions as far as she could, but couldn't find a trace of the missing thief. Instead, she heard a faint yelling from a short distance, the sound of a little girl.

Toph immediately sprang forward, ready to rip off the arms of anyone who had possibly harmed Mei. But when she reached the source of screaming, she found nothing.

"Up here!" came Mei's voice from above Toph.

"Where? Are you okay?" Toph asked as she tried to pinpoint Mei's position based on the sounds of struggling against what sounded like a tree's trunk.

"I -," Mei started, but was interrupted by a large cracking noise, followed by a short scream, which in turn, led to a loud thump accompanied by a pained expletive.

"Mei, what happened?" Toph asked as she walked towards her, since she was finally able to see her on the ground.

"This fat pirate came at me, and I tried to waterbend, but he was too fast, so I tried to use my Granma's pitchfork on him. But he ended up…" Mei's voice trailed off.

"What?"

"He took it from me and pinned me up against a tree with it," Mei admitted quietly.

Toph couldn't help but chuckle at this, but quickly stifled it, as she noticed how it affected Mei.

"Sorry, but where'd he go?"asked Toph, once again reaching out with her perceptions, but finding nothing.

"I don't know," Mei said quietly, shameful of her complete failure during the whole encounter with the pirates. First she'd been immobilized by a likely pedophile suspect, then she'd completely and utterly failed in her first and real chance at proving how capable she was. The latter had been decidedly worse, since she had ended up pinned to a tree by her own weapon, for crying out loud! Once again, her waterbending had merely managed to wet the clothes of her opponent.

Toph said nothing as she thought of her next course of action. She'd lost a pirate, but captured six. There was no way of following the culprit, since she had no idea in which direction he had gone, and of course there was the obvious lack of stable ground as well to consider. Finding them last time had been a stroke of luck by anyone's standards, and that had been with a general direction to follow.

Toph decided to interrogate what remained of the pirates, one of them could probably tell her an exact address to which she could go to in Ba Sing Se, after all, they were making a delivery.

Toph walked off, leaving Mei behind to lick her proverbial wounds. Toph knew a thing or two about broken pride - after meeting people like Zuko and Sokka, who wouldn't? - so she decided to leave Mei alone. Besides, she might have to get a bit rough with her prisoners, and she didn't want a young impressionable girl to see anything gratuitously violent.

Unfortunately for Toph, the answers she would soon learn by demonstrating how easy it was to squish things with boulders, were not what she had expected.

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Author's notes: First time adding notes and all I have to say is that this chapter felt rather weak. I don't really know why. I just can't put my finger on it. But it's still necessary (Toph's past and slight plot progression). I tried rewriting it a couple of times, but never really liked how it turned out. Oh well, the next chap is better, I think. I definitely liked writing it (I like to write my chaps in advance so I can easily tweak them when necessary). It'll be up later today. My humble way of apologizing for this - shudder - adequate chapter. I kind of feel guilty.

P.S. thanks for the positive reviews, please give me more. I, like most likely others on this site, are mainly writing as a way to hone our aspiring writing skills, so constructive criticism would be much appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6: Worst Day Ever

Author's notes: Here it is! The next chapter! It's one of my personal favourites. More humour and action while the plot shifts into a bigger gear.

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Chapter 6: Worst Day Ever

As Zuko finally arrived at the naval base, where his brand new nemesis presided, he gave a joyous shout as he was finally able to remove his royal behind from one of the most painful saddles he had ever ridden in. The thing couldn't possibly have been designed for humans, or by them. He considered burning it right there and then, to rid the world of one more evil, but noticed that his appearance had caused quite a gathering in the base's courtyard. As the Fire Lord, he couldn't go around burning things, it just wasn't something royalty did. You ordered lackeys to do it.

"Soldier," Zuko turned to face a nervous man, who had taken his mount's reins. "Take this saddle and dispose of it immediately."

"Uh, why, sir?" the man asked staring at the odd saddle. As far as he could tell, it was just an innocent bystander (or sitter-on if you wanted to get specific).

Zuko gave the man a stare that revealed, not the supreme authority he held, but the absolute hate he had for anyone aiding the evil that was his saddle.

"Right away, sir!" the soldier quickly exclaimed as he removed the saddle and ran away with it.

_Score one for humanity, zero for evil saddles._

Zuko turned to a slack jawed soldier who had been awestricken by his presence the moment he had arrived. "And you! Get a grip on yourself," the man straightened up immediately at these commanding tones, "and show me to Admiral Fu Bai, immediately."

***

The naval base was huge, if you were in the habit of using understatements. It covered most of a peninsula, which was about five kilometres in diameter. The base was more like a tiny, heavily fortified village. In fact, it could easily have functioned as one. It contained a butcher's shop, vast places for storage of food, and around its borders, small civilian shops had risen to leech off whatever the soldiers discarded and sell merchandise back to them. And then there was the harbour of course. Full of activity as civilians and merchants and soldiers walked about, going about their business. Amongst the massive warships were hundreds of small crafts.

Zuko was lead through the throng by a soldier, who had developed a nervous twitch around him. Zuko wasn't bothered by this, as most people generally developed bizarre mannerisms around royalty. Soon they arrived at an impressive looking tower, with vigilant guards posted around it.

"Halt, who goes there?" a guard faithfully recited as Zuko and his guide approached.

"T-t-the Fire Lord," Zuko's escort stammered.

"Lord Zuko?" the guard asked with a shocked expression on his face. "But he's not supposed to arrive here for weeks!"

"I have no idea why he's here so early," the escort said, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead.

"But we're not ready for him yet!"

Zuko gave a polite cough. "You do realize that the Fire Lord himself is standing right here, getting increasingly impatient?"

The two soldiers stared at him, as if he'd magically appeared from nothing.

"I wish to see the admiral, now," Zuko said with more emphasis on his words than the last time.

"Sorry, Your Highness, right away," said the guard as he hurriedly opened the door to the tower and led Zuko to an open elevator. "Watch your step, sir. There's no railing on it yet."

"I noticed," Zuko said as he got on the elevator, and assumed a stable and firm position to stand in as the elevator started climbing. Absentmindedly he scratched at his scar.

When the crude elevator jerked to a stop, the soldier led Zuko through a small hall, at the end of which, an intimidating metal door stood ajar.

Zuko pushed the door open with a dramatic flair he hoped would inspire fear in the scoundrel who had betrayed him. Probably a wizened old fool no doubt, who still clung to ancient hates and ignorant prejudices, or a fat, slimy, greedy man with weak morals who had sold his nation out for money.

If only life were that simple, so black and white, where the bad guy could always be identified by that evil look in their eye and the ugliness that evil brought with it.

"Good day, Fire Lord Zuko, your arrival so early is unexpected, but most definitely welcome, even so," an attractive woman in regal armour fit for a princess told him as she rose from her seat behind a desk with detailed decorative carvings. "Please take my seat, unfortunately it's the only place on my humble base worthy of such an esteemed personage as yourself," the woman said as she offered her chair and backed away from it.

The woman was decidedly attractive. She had strong, yet not overbearing facial features that gave her a serene composed look. Her hair was long, but kept in a tight ponytail, revealing all of her sculpture like face. Her armour was light with a small amount of decorative gold lining on crimson and dark. Most unusually, she had a sort of black skirt covering her pants, reaching her knees, open on the sides to allow freedom of movement, with an emblem of two dragons biting each other's tails while encircling a golden sun. But the part of her that drew Zuko's attention the most, were her eyes, which were golden, but contained a crimson glow to them, coming from the light of a setting sun from the large open balcony behind her desk, giving a beautiful look at the small bay in which most of the harbour was in.

Zuko continued inspecting her as he made his way, carefully, towards the admiral's chair. "_You're_ Admiral Fu Bai?"

"Last time I checked, sir. I haven't received any messages indicating demotion or promotion in years, sir," Fu Bai said as she sat down in a small chair in front of her desk with a polite smile on her face. She indicated at the chair on the other side of the table. "Please sir, take a seat."

Zuko was hesitant to comply. This was the traitor? She was acting so calmly. He had expected the traitor to at least break into a sweat or start twitching nervously. He hadn't expected a calm beauty like her. Was his information correct?

"I'll stand," he said as he took a look outside. An air ship was slowly landing near the harbour, an oddly dark appariton in the bright colourful evening sky.

"Very well, sir. May I ask you why you have arrived here ahead of your schedule?" Bai asked as she inspected the Fire Lord. He looked rather tired and dirty. "You look rather worried… sir."

Zuko gave her a quizzical look. Was she the traitor? Should he just accuse her straight out or try to subtly fish out an admission.

"Did you sell us out? Did you betray the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked, deciding that the direct approach was more to his style.

"Sir?" asked Bai with a reserved but surprised look on her face.

"Did you give pirates important information about the Fire Nation's military capabilities?" Zuko strode towards her with a grim finality in his eyes.

Fu Bai was silent for a moment, staring at Zuko. Then she sighed: "I guess you found me out."

"You're admitting it? Just like that?" the shock of this revelation caused Zuko to take a step back.

"Giving out military information to criminals? Yes."

"But… why?" Zuko hadn't expected results like this, not at all.

"We are not pleased with the current political position, sir. _Not at all_," Bai said as she stood up. "The economy is in shambles, after paying so much in reparations, we haven't even been able take part in any significant trade either. We are embroiled in constant border disputes, with no plans of attack in order to cease hostilities, while we waste time on ineffectual talks with our neighbouring countries as they continue to slowly pilfer our villages. We have the means to stop it all, by attacking them, by continuing the war. We have decided to take action as you seem unwilling to end the crisis our nation is in. We will feed our enemies false information, distracting them, and then attack when they least expect it."

Zuko was stupefied, but was able to mutter: "We?"

"Suffice to say that there are many of us, and we are intent on continuing the war. Our nation is slowly but surely dying under your leadership. War is not something that we necessarily want, but it is better than the alternative. This is the only way to save our people. You have proven to be an ineffectual Fire Lord. Your services are no longer required."

"You – you can't! I won't let you start another war! I'm still the Fire Lord," Zuko shouted at her as he turned to the door. "Guards! Arrest her!"

Several guards ran into the room assuming a wide perimeter around the pair. Slowly, they started to advance on them.

"Hurry up! Take her!" Zuko said impatiently.

"…You didn't really think that – uh, never mind, I'll continue with the mandatory banter fit for situations such as this," she said as she quickly regained her previous, collected air.

"I'm sorry Zuko, but as I said earlier, your services as the Fire Lord are no longer required," Fu Bai said before she retreated behind the closing ring of guards. "This is what they call a coup, I think."

One of the guards lunged for Zuko. Zuko kicked him in the stomach, sending the man flying into a wall. Flares of fire erupted from all around him. He dropped onto the ground and spun, kicking up a spiralling wall of flames to protect him. This resulted in a small explosion, sending most of the guards flying into the walls. As the flames settled, Zuko made a run for the balcony, but was intercepted by two guards.

One of the guards sent several bolts towards him through the air as the other created a fiery wave across the floor towards Zuko. Zuko unleashed an intense burst of flames from his fists that engulfed the smaller bolts and erupted with force as it hit the wave. Zuko was pushed back from the explosion into the arms of a guard behind him, who immediately took him into a head-lock.

Zuko struggled furiously as several guards were approaching him. He kicked with his feet sending blasts at the advancing guards. He tried to hit the man in the face, but the standard fire trooper mask prevented that. He didn't want to burn the guards face off, so he elbowed him in the stomach. The guard released him immediately. Zuko spun on his heels and kicked the man in the head.

Zuko summoned a pair of fire whips to strike at anyone who might dare to try and come close to him. Occasionally he would block a blast of fire with them as he slowly made his way towards the balcony again.

Then the roomed filled with a flickering blue light as a crackling sound filled Zuko's ears. He knew that sound all too well, someone was about to shoot lightning at him. He quickly allowed the whips to dissipate as he swiftly turned around to see Fu Bai charging up a blast.

A bolt of blue electricity was released, forking its way across the floor in a split second. Zuko barely had enough time to prepare himself. As the bolt reached his outstretched hand, he could feel the painful amounts of energy course through his arm towards his heart. He summoned all of his concentration, willing the energy to travel past his stomach, and out through his other hand, pointing towards the balcony.

Unfortunately he hadn't been fully prepared for it, so the bolt emerged from his hand in a disarrayed manner, hitting the floor, ceiling and wall, instead of going out through the balcony harmlessly. The floor beneath Zuko's feet collapsed, sending everyone in the room into a plummet.

***

Zuko regained consciousness while half buried by rubble. He pushed it off and made sure nothing was broken. He was bleeding quite a lot, however. Every inch of him ached, he just wanted to lie there, but then jumped as he heard shouting.

He remembered the situation he was in, hunted by his own men. Luckily the air was thick with debris. He quietly made his way through the wreckage, hiding behind detritus whenever a shadow came close.

How was he going to get out of here, Zuko thought to himself. He couldn't trust anyone here; most likely they were all involved in the coup, he had to find a way to get to – oh no – if this was happening to him here, then what about everyone back at home! He had to get back before anyone he cared about was hurt. If even the Fire Lord himself was a target, his family and friends were most likely in equal peril.

Zuko remembered the air ship that had just landed, it was his best shot at getting back home. He painfully sneaked through the rubble until he finally reached a small shop that had been saved from the destruction. Fortunately the building was empty. Zuko searched for something that would stop the bleeding. He found some rags and tied them around his wounds. He looked at a mirror, where a bloody, scratched, bruised and broken mess stood. It reflected how Zuko felt on the inside very accurately.

Zuko tied a rag around his brow, to cover a gash, and walked to the back of the store. He peered out through a small door, mayhem prevailed on the streets with civilians running about like scared sheep and soldiers doing their best to maintain order. He once again looked around the shop and spotted some simple robes. He donned them and joined the throng, making his way towards the air ship in all of the confusion.

***

"What's going on out there?" the captain of the air ship asked. He'd just returned from a long flight and was ready to get some rest and relaxation. Handling a crisis was the last thing he wanted on his last day before, in his opinion, a much deserved retirement.

"Dunno, cap, but it looks nasty," a small technician said as he peered through an even smaller view port. "I think the tower's collapsed."

"An attack?" the captain asked, now worried. This was no way to start retirement.

"I… I'm not sure, maybe?" the technician answered hesitantly.

"Well it's pretty simple lad, see any enemy troops?"

"No, but – "

"Then it's not an attack," the captain said, satisfied with this as he turned to his tea.

"But sir, just 'cause I don't see 'em, don't mean they're not there, cap," the technician said as he turned away from the view port

"If there's no enemy to be seen, there's no enemy to attack," the captain said as he took a sip of his tea. He then proceeded to wipe his wet moustache methodically with an old napkin. It was all a little ritual to him that helped him deal with the stressful world he found himself in.

"But cap –"

"No buts," the captain told the little man as he heard clanging sounds from behind the door on the bridge. "And go check up on that sound. You're s'posed to keep this ship in tip top shape, and by the sounds of it, you've been neglecting your duties."

"But –"

"What did I just say about you and your buts?"

"Yes sir," the tech said as he slouched in defeat and made his way towards the door.

"That's better," the captain said while taking another sip of tea, and then went on to clean his moustache again. "Guy spends so much time saying but he doesn't know where it stops and the crap starts," he grumbled to himself.

As the grumbling technician neared the door, it was blown off its hinges. A pair of guards then followed through the frame, falling limply on the ground. A ragged bleeding man emerged from the smoke, panting. He grabbed the technician by the throat and held his fist in front of technicians face in a threatening manner. "Get airborne – now – before I blast – his face off."

The captain stared at the newcomer with a look of reserved surprise on his face. Then it slowly changed into a contemplative one.

"Cap, what're you doing? Make him let go of me!" the technician squealed as his eyes darted from the crazed, bloody madman holding him unnecessarily tightly (in his opinion at least) and his captain, deep in thought over something immensely difficult.

"Just considering my options, boy," the captain mused as he scratched his chin. The possibility of losing his but-man was highly appealing, but there were all those damn ethical scruples involved with a decision like that. Scruples always messed with his digestion.

"After I burn him, I'll come after you," the ragged assailant said.

"Right, where do you want to go, sir?" The captain was no fool, he knew from what direction the wind was blowing from, and this time it had an excessively violent disposition.

"Fire Nation capital, now," the attacker said as he released the snivelling technician.

"Good choice sir," the captain said as he turned to a pipe and shouted into it: "Right lads, get ready for departure. We're going back, in half a jiffy."

Loud groans could be heard throughout the ship as they echoed around in the corridors, swiftly reaching the bridge.

Zuko practically collapsed onto the floor, forcing himself to stay awake. He couldn't trust anyone. He couldn't risk another betrayal, not when his friends were in danger. His eyelids felt heavy as lead, but he kept them half open, seeking treachery, while he kept an ear out for possible threats.

It was turning out to be a very bad day, for the entire crew, the captain solemnly reflected. And just before his retirement too. He could confidently say that this really was turning out to be the worst day ever.


	7. Chapter 7: Things Heat Up, after Cooling

Chapter 7: Things Heat Up, after Cooling

As Toph once again made her way across fields and roads (setting local commerce back by several months), she considered the ramifications of the information she had discovered. Instead of going to Ba Sing Se, the pirates were heading for the Water Tribes. But to which one, the pirates Toph had interrogated hadn't been clear about. Toph had decided to head for the Southern tribe, it was closer and where her friends lived… Sokka and Katara…

It had been so long since she'd seen either of them, several years in fact. The pair had always been busy with rebuilding their tribe, but they had always made time for her when she had arrived to visit them, although this had happened very rarely, as Toph hated visiting places where foot ware wasn't optional. They had kept in touch, using Sokka's hawk, the one with the stupid name – whatsisname, Birdy? Beaky? – but eventually their correspondence had dried up.

Now she was off to see them again, but with bad news in tow.

Toph had left Mei behind with her reclaimed property, even though the girl had been extremely persistent in trying to find a way to join Toph on her journeys, stopping short at physical threats. Toph could relate to her, being kept in a stinking swamp, with nothing to do and all of the world so close, yet unreachable.

As Toph sailed through the land, she could sense the limits of the earth approaching. All around her was a fuzzy, but tangible, surrounding to be perceived, but a short distance away in front of her, it completely vanished.

When she was just a short distance away from the darkness of her mind's eye, she stopped, searching for a means of transport. There was a village to her left, with what seemed like a small dock. She decided to walk the short distance, in order to avoid unnecessary attention. There she would hopefully be able to hire someone to take her to the Southern Water tribe.

***

When Toph reached the shores of the lands of the Southern Water tribe, she sensed a familiar presence. Unlike with Zuko, who she hadn't met in a decade, her separation from this person's familiar gait had been a lot shorter, ensuring a better memory. She ran swiftly into a tavern, where the loud sounds of a carnivorous beast grumbled with satisfaction as it devoured great amounts of meat.

Toph jumped and hugged a man with a wolftail (the self-proclaimed masculine offspring of the ponytail) from behind, who had been standing before a buffet table, where he had been prowling the table like an animal, grabbing whatever tempted his taste buds and devouring it with the efficiency of a machine.

"Sokka!" Toph cheered.

"Mrmphf? Oph?" the bewildered man attempted to ask with a mouthful of food. This futile attempt ended in a furious fit of coughing.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you again," Toph said as she continued to squeeze Sokka with a dangerous amount of affection.

"Khaff! Oph, plz sop shweezin meh," Sokka gagged.

After Toph finally released her iron grip around Sokka, and he in turn stopped choking on his food, he asked her: "Toph, what are you doing here?"

Toph could barely contain her excitement, erupting into an explosion of exposition. She eagerly explained everything that had happened to her in the previous days with Zuko and the pirates with such speed and intensity that Sokka could barely follow. She recounted all the thrilling moments and stunning revelations with an enthusiasm she was becoming used to once again after meeting Zuko and embarking on her journey. It was only when she turned to the less desirable aspects of information that her pace began to slow.

"Soo… you aren't here for the spicy wings," Sokka asked her as he gave the buffet table a conspiratorial sideways glance.

"Did you listen to anything I said?"

"Yeah, Zuko's back, world in peril, smelly pirates… nothing new, nothing we can't handle," Sokka muttered distractedly. If the piece of food being eyed so intently were a conscious being, it would have tried to edge away discreetly.

"You can't be serious. You can't – should I give you and the roasted moose lion some time alone?" Toph said, finally noticing the object of Sokka's desires.

"I'd like that. I'd really, really like that," Sokka said as he once again advanced on his helpless but succulent prey.

Eyewitness accounts of what happened next differ greatly. Fishermen at the docks would say that nothing more than a small tremor occurred. A pedestrian walking past the restaurant would claim to have seen tables and food flying out the windows with a man screaming, "Not the meat! Not the MEAT!!" The restaurant's owner would give long irritated rants about a short woman, who first messed up his carpets and then rendered these worries moot as food was splattered around the entire premises.

Toph found Sokka near the water where he had landed, on his knees, holding out a hand longingly towards the water. "It was the biggest steak I'd ever seen…"

"Sokka, I say this with all the love in the world, forget about the damn food!" Toph exclaimed, adding seriously but offhandedly, "And get me some shoes, my toes are freezing."

***

"How are we moving?" Toph asked as she tried to get a good look at the cylindrical contraption she was in through her feet. It was solid steel, she could tell, but she didn't sense any rumbling machinery contributing to the inertia she felt.

"Well, it's all very complicated," Sokka said, turning his head around quickly to peer out through a porthole. He was sitting in a relaxed pose on a long bench on the other side of the large cylinder.

Toph, sitting across from him, raised her inquisitive eyes from the floor. She cocked an eyebrow knowingly. Just because she couldn't see anything with her eyes didn't mean they were useless. Knowing stares always unnerved people, but when it came from blind opulent eyes, she knew they were even freakier. She'd have her answers soon enough.

"Oh really?" Toph said tauntingly. "Something so complex a simple girl who likes to roll around in the mud couldn't even hope to understand. Pardon my arrogance, oh! such audacity."

Sokka was silent for a moment, still staring outside, and then he said meekly, "… No harm done."

Toph faked injury. "Please, accept my sincerest apologies."

Sokka gulped nervously.

"Knowing you it must have been something incredibly difficult and –"

"Alright, alright. Enough. I'll explain. No need to resort to further acts of mental torture," Sokka said as he turned around. "The basic design is all my idea, naturally. Of course, the Mechanist did all of the technical stuff. But anyway, you know how they have that transportation system in Ba Sing Se with earthbenders pushing them along?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, on one of my many ambassadorial missions to Ba Sing Se, I got to thinking, how could we do that in the Water Tribes? We could really use technology like that here. We've established several new small villages around the country. Even though the distances can be fairly easily traversed by ships, it's all rather impractical. You can't just take a ship whenever you want to."

"C'mon Sokka, hurry it up," Toph said with a small yawn.

"Yeah, well, I came up with an idea how to use the system with waterbenders!" Sokka said, now very ecstatic.

"But we're still on ground," Toph observed.

"But we have waterbenders bending steam into large containers at the stations in which we stop occasionally. Then we use the pressure built up by the steam to launch the container we're in!"

"Ok… I don't really get it."

"It's best not to think about it too hard," Sokka admitted, and then once again glanced out the window. "Ah, we're here. Welcome to the grand capital of the Southern Water Tribes!"

The cylinder came to a jarring halt, knocking the usually surefooted Toph down on her knees.

"Yeah, the system still needs some work," Sokka said, helping Toph back onto her feet. Then he led the way out through a door. "Maybe some kind of straps in the seats… Seat-straps? No. Seatbelts? Ugh, now that just sounds stupid…" he muttered to himself as he led the way out.

If Toph had been able to see, she would have been thoroughly shocked by the grandeur of the village from where Sokka and Katara had left on they're journey with the Avatar. It was now a large sprawling city, with large, tall buildings scraping the skies. The Southern Tribe's architecture differed greatly from the Northern; everything was asymmetrical, tryingto look as natural as possible. There were no corners or sharp edges to any of the icy buildings. The buildings were formed from spiralling ice, which ultimately made most of them resemble icebergs.

"I see you expanded the palace," Toph remarked, since all she could really see was the outlines of the buildings against the ground. This was what she hated about going to either of the poles, she could barely see anything. Even with a pair of shoes that had dangerously thin soles, she could barely make anything out. And then there was all that annoying snow.

"C'mon, it's almost dinner time," Sokka said, hurriedly leading Toph towards the grand palace with its giant spiralling spires.

***

"OM NOM NOM!" Sokka went as he devoured his way through his meal.

"Grand ambassador, must you eat now, here, during our meeting of stately matters?" Gendo, the Master of the Treasury asked, deeply offended by the young man's lack of etiquette.

Toph burped a reply that sounded faintly like sorry.

Gendo sighed patiently. Great, another one.

"Don't mind us, just carry on. I'll object to anything if the need arises," Sokka said after he finished swallowing.

"Guys, I know you're hungry, but there are such things as manner," Katara said, frustrated by behaviour she hadn't been able to kick out of either Sokka or Toph for years. Not that she hadn't tried, much to the annoyance of the pair.

"Sorry," Toph and Sokka muttered in unison, before they continued eating, trying they're hardest to chew quietly.

"Thank you. Please Gendo, continue the meeting," Katara said.

The meeting progressed in a typical tedious manner. Toph and Sokka both remained quiet for most of the meeting, both happy that they had food to concentrate on instead of having to listen to all of the bureaucracy. Even when they had finished eating, they didn't dare say anything; hoping silence on their parts would speed up the meeting.

While Sokka reminisced over his previous meal and planned for the next one, Toph couldn't help but worry about the news she would be required to tell all the representatives at the end of the meeting. She had told Katara (and Sokka again) everything, and they had both agreed that the council should be made aware of the situation. Toph was starting to feel rather nervous.

"Now that our meeting is nearly over," Gendo said in his dry voice, "we have one more important matter to attend to. An envoy from the Earth Kingdom is here with dire news."

Toph gulped nervously. Socializing with high class was easy enough, it was talking about serious matters she had never been able to get the hang of.

"Bring him in," Gendo said to a guard standing at a large doorway.

"Yes, sir."

Him? Toph gaped with both Katara and Sokka by her sides, both looking equally bewildered.

A short, fat man bundled in thick furs entered the hall.

"Greetings, great and noble leaders of the Southern Water Tribes. My name is Dang, and I come from the Earth Kingdom with dire news," Dang said in a nasally voice, after he sneezed loudly a couple of times.

"Don't listen to him, he's a pirate!" Toph shouted, rising up as she pummelled the table. "He stole important documents from the Fire Nation!"

Dang stared at Toph with a mixture of shock and fear, but recovered quickly. "I am an official envoy of the Earth Kingdom. Like all great Nations of the world, we employ spies upon our enemies. Yes, I have important Fire Nation documents, and trust me, it's better that we know of their impending attack."

"What?!" several people at the meeting shouted, startled by these dangerous news.

"Yes, I regret to inform you, but the Fire Nation is planning another war. Troops, supplies, and machinery are being moved to frontiers. Weapon production has reached a level as high as it was during the previous war. It's all in these documents," Dang said as he threw a pile of papers onto the table. Many people furiously grabbed at them, eager to see if all these horrible claims were true.

"Oh my…"said Gendo as he skimmed through a report. "This is terrible. There's actually a plan for invasion in here with places of tactical importance highlighted."

"Yes, as you can see, our nations are once again in peril from the depraved forces of the Fire Nation. That is why I am here on behalf of the Earth Kingdom to present to you an alliance. This time we can stop them, if we work together. With our united front we'll be able stop another senseless war," Gendo said as he wiped his nose.

"That – that's not true! I met the Fire Lord just a couple of days ago, he has no intention of starting a war!" Toph insisted.

"I can't believe Zuko would advocate war either, no one's been more adamant about peace than he has," Katara said with a gloomy stare at Dang.

"All lies so he could prepare for war in secret and continue the war his father failed to finish. Trust me, the royal family is full of crazy, power hungry fiends who'll do anything for the taste of blood, especially now that they have a chance for vengeance," Dang said, taking a seat at the table and helping himself to some of the drinks still left on the table.

"No, it's not possible…" Toph said quietly, but then mustered her courage again, "I'll be meeting the Fire Lord tomorrow. I'll bring him here so he can personally persuade you all that there is nothing to fear. Sokka I need your fastest ship."

"Sure, just take my order and they'll give you anything you need," Sokka said mutely as he furiously searched for a pen and paper. He quickly scribbled something on it and handed it to Toph.

"Hurry," he told her in a voice that was almost lost in all of the commotion the reading of the documents had caused.

"You're not coming?" Toph asked.

"I think I should stay here and make sure nothing hasty happens," Sokka said, looking around at the other officials.

"Yeah, we're very important to in the politics of The Tribe. We'll make sure you have enough time to get back before anything's decided," Katara said with a reassuring smile on her face. Even so, she looked sort of deflated.

"Ok, I'll be back soon with Zuko," Toph said, after which she gave Dang a nasty glower.

Toph stalked out of the room, fuming. She had to hurry in order to get to Zuko as fast as possible, she couldn't risk being late. Not now when the fate of the world hung in the balance once again.


	8. Chapter 8: Blackouts

Chapter 8: Blackouts

Zuko knocked out the engineer. He turned his gaze to the last conscious crewmember, the captain, who was sipping his tea while he eyed the prone figure of the engineer. The captain then produced his filthy old napkin from a different pocket than he had put it in. If Zuko had been more attentive to such details as these, he would have been very much confused, maybe even bamboozled, but his injuries and lack of sleep had left him with nothing but a dull, simpleminded purpose of saving those close to him, at any cost.

"You're next," he rumbled coarsely.

"Quite… I was rather expecting this to happen, so I made sure to prepare an ideal spot for you to knock me out," the captain said and then pointed at a pile of pillows in the corner. "Over there please, if you would be so kind."

Zuko bleakly glanced at the pile, then back at the captain. "How… thoughtful of you."

"Myes," the captain said as he walked past Zuko towards the corner, "Now if you would –"

The last of his sentence was interrupted as a fist hit the back of his head, knocking him out. He fell to the floor, far away from the soft pillows he had had prepared for himself.

"Finally… some quiet," Zuko muttered as he made his way through airship's corridors, stumbling occasionally.

He had knocked out all the crew members one at a time throughout the flight, so they wouldn't hinder him later. After all but the essential crewmembers had been taken care of, he gave more specified instructions about their destination. They were now very close to the capital, just a short hike away.

Zuko stepped out into the cool evening air. He peered around. No one had apparently spotted their landing. Good. He then turned his eyes forward, to scale the mountain in front of him. The setting sun adorned the sky with a crimson elegance as dark purple clouds with the occasional pink wisp of smaller clouds darting their way past the larger ones. The top of the mountain was missing, but at the top of it he could see an eerie golden glow being emitted, which was broken by occasional pillars of black smoke. Not good.

The capital was on fire. He had to hurry.

Zuko began his long jog up the mountainside, picturing the faces of those he was here to rescue, as a way to drive the pain and exhaustion away. Dark spots began to blur his vision as he dutifully made his way up the mountain, not daring to think of the horrors he might witness once he reached the top.

Then darkness took hold of him…

Zuko was standing on top of a crater's edge. He had no recollection of how he had gotten there. He could smell the carnage, while ash pillowed past his face. The smells of burned buildings, scorched earth and fried flesh nearly knocked him out. He looked down to fully see the havoc below. Flames had engulfed a third of the city. Small ant-like figures were screaming and running away from the fires.

Guilt roused its ugly head again. _Failed again, huh?_ But he pushed such thoughts from his head, focusing once again on his loved ones' faces. He couldn't stop now, not after everything he had gone through. Not when there was a possibility of saving them.

He slid down the edge of the crater, tripped and rolled against sharp rocks until a large boulder stopped his ill-fated fall. He got up, painfully, then started running, allowing gravity to pull him along. He stumbled several times again on his way down. All of his muscles were burning with exertion, but he couldn't stop… couldn't…

Darkness once again…

Zuko was fighting. He was inside the palace now, in the Great Hall. He didn't have the strength or speed to jump around anymore. He just kept blasting great waves of fire at enemies, keeping them at bay, occasionally scoring a hit as one of his enemies overestimated their skills as a firebender, feeling the full wrath of his dire flames.

"Zuko! She's collapsed!" The voice of a woman was dimly registered in his mind as he delivered yet another furious blast.

Zuko quickly glanced back before he turned towards his enemies again. He lowered his fists and took a very deep breath. In this small moment of tranquillity between Zuko's volleys, his enemies, Fire Nation soldiers, quickly advanced, thinking this was they're chance.

Zuko took a wide stance, using both of his fists to unleash the two largest balls of flame he had ever created. Some of the men, who were closest to him, were practically incinerated instantly. They were the lucky ones.

The end of the hall, with its large doors, was blown apart by the force of his attack. The surrounding walls crumbled and collapsed, leaving the entrance of the palace now completely open.

Zuko turned around, feeling woozy. Dark purple shapes were once again assaulting his vision. He thought he could taste blood in his mouth.

"We have to get out of here!" the familiar voice of a female slowly made its way to his mind. "C'mon help me!"

"I'll… carry her," Zuko managed to say. He made his way to the two blurry figures, one hunched over the other one, lying on the ground. "Cover us… I don't think I have enough strength to…"

"…Ok Zuko, if you say so," The standing blur said. She started giving him instructions as he hauled the other hazy shape into his aching arms. But the words were lost on him as once again…

Darkness…

The patter of feet against the hard ground brought his drowsy mind to full consciousness again. Past burning buildings he ran, trying not to inhale too much smoke. Distant screams echoed in his head from all sides. He tried to run as fast as possible, but the extra weight in his hands slowed him down along with a new urgency for delicacy. He couldn't afford to stumble now, no matter how weak his legs felt. His arms were trembling as they held the prone body against his chest, trying to hold on desperately.

He heard familiar soft pounding of feet behind him.

"Zuko, go! I'll hold them back. Get to the balloon, it's just a few blocks away! I'll follow you as soon as I'm done with them!"

The sound of soft footsteps behind Zuko disappeared, then, after a short silence, screams and the thuds of bodies falling over from behind him were the only sounds he could hear over the general bedlam.

Darkness…

He lowered the body he had been caring carefully into the small basket of the war balloon. Then he heaved himself over the side as well, landing hard onto the floor of the balloon. He gasped desperately for air, as he stared emptily at the balloon above him as it swayed gently in the heat waves, giving off a horribly calming illusion amongst all the carnage that was just beyond the sides of the balloon's basket Zuko couldn't see over anymore from the floor.

After he caught his breath, Zuko struggled to stand upright. He slowly made his way towards the fires that inflated the balloon. He opened a hatch and poured the last of his strength into a jet of fire, causing the fires to burn hotter so that the balloon started rising gently.

He once again collapsed onto the ground. The pain was too much. He was covered in bruises and cuts, new ones bleeding intensely next to old opened wounds that had tried to heal and failed miserably.

The balloon suddenly came to a jarring halt. Zuko cursed feverishly to himself; he had forgotten the moorings. He pulled himself towards the edges of the basket, moving only by strength of will.

"Have to… to… save…" Zuko struggled to say as he spat out blood. "Please… not like… this…"

The balloon wobbled uncertainly as someone climbed over the balloon's side. Zuko punched out towards the figure, emitting a small plume of fire that quivered and died as soon as he launched it.

"Zuko, it's me! Don't worry, I untied the ropes and then climbed up them. I'll take care of the rest," the shifting figure said.

Zuko tried to focus his eyes on it, but the strain was too much. It was the straw that broke his back. He let out a long sigh as the familiar darkness once again enveloped him. It took him down into a pit from which he couldn't rise. He screamed impotently, until the darkness swallowed even the sound of his voice leaving nothing but oblivion to surround him, until it consumed him as well.


	9. Chapter 9: A Proper Reunion

Chapter 9: A Proper Reunion

"Katara, Toph's been gone for two days now. I thought she would return the next day," Sokka said worriedly as he glanced at the horizon from a large balcony overlooking the courtyard.

He was visiting Katara in her room. It, like all the other rooms in the ice palace, had a light blue luminance to it, as sunlight passed its way through the walls, occasionally reflecting rays of light into all the colours of the spectrum wherever light hit it at a certain angle. It was large with giant twisting arches holding up the apex of the ceiling. Thick rugs covered the floors, while most of the furniture was made from the ivory remains of animals. Occasionally a dark brown wooden piece of furniture disturbed the room, which was mostly dominated by blues and whites.

"I don't know any more than you do, Sokka," Katara said as she folded recently washed clothing into a large wooden wardrobe.

"This just doesn't feel right… Agh, where is she? We can't stall the council for ever," Sokka said as he began to pace back and forth along the balcony, arms crossed behind him.

Katara gave him a patient and understanding look, knowing full well that his concerns were deeper than he expressed. "I'm sure she's okay, Sokka. She _is_ a master bender."

Sokka stopped pacing, to look at Katara. In her, he saw unwavering hope and trust reflected back at him in deep blue eyes that spoke of knowledge unfitting of someone as young as her. He turned his eyes back to the horizon, not knowing which he found more unnerving, the empty skies or his sister's overwhelming sense of naivete, which – damn the spirits – was so often not misplaced.

Sokka took a more relaxed position, leaning against the balcony's railing, trying to force his mind to adopt a similar calming state of being as his body. He noticed a small dark speck appear in the blue sky near the horizon.

Probably some stupid birds or something…

"War… After all these years, all the work we've done, is this what it all amounted to? A short break between the bloodshed? Time enough for everyone to restock and get ready for the final push? It… it… URGH!" Sokka exclaimed, running his hands past his temples and through his hair in aggravation, "Seriously? C'mon! It's not… fair!"

"I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself, Sokka. Like we told the council, Zuko's just as adamant about peace as we are," Katara said as she moved onto a pair of pants, which she once again folded neatly into the wardrobe. "As soon as Toph gets here with him, I'm sure we can resolve all of this peacefully."

"Yeah, I think so too… but it's just that… What if Zuko _is_ pro-war after all?" Sokka asked hesitantly.

Katara stopped halfway through folding a thick coat. She stared at it intently, noticing small creases that she quickly straightened out, but she didn't continue folding it after doing so.

"Katara?" Sokka asked, now far more worried than he had been earlier. "You ok?"

Katara left the coat where it was and turned to face Sokka, slowly but deliberately. In her normally warm eyes there was a dark solemnity that Sokka found extremely disturbing. He had seen it a couple of times before in his life, and even then it had always been a precursor of danger. He hated it when those eyes were focused on him. At best it meant nothing but a sadistic rationing of healthy food for him, but at worst… Well let's just say that it was one of those seldom times that Sokka really wished he could bend as well, in order to have at least the slightest chance of defence against such peril.

"He wouldn't," Katara intoned in a voice that made an undertaker sound jubilant. "And if he would, I – _we_ would crush him."

Sokka gulped nervously and raised his hands up in surrender, waving them gently as to waft the dread away.

"Uhm, I'm sure we'll be able to sort it all out once Zuko shows up. We're reasonable people, he's reasonable. We can all be reasonable together. Sounds reasonable enough, eh?"

Sokka gulped again. Katara stared solemnly at him for a moment, then went back to folding silently. Sokka sighed in relieve and turned back towards the horizon, just in time to catch a snowball in the face.

"Blargh! Pfft! Koff!" Sokka sputtered wet sleet out his mouth, and then ran to the edge of the balcony. "You damn kids! Don't you know better! I – I, uh, I'm gonna get you! I'll catch you, fry you, fillet you, and eat you with a large portion of fried penguin wings! And that's after I'm done walloping the living snot out of your empty heads! Just wait till I get my boomerang, you damn little mongrels!" Sokka yelled as he waved his fist menacingly at the group of children below. His yelling was met by a chorus of laughter with a "Told ya he gets all funny when ya throw stuff at him!"

He turned to Katara with a face full of righteous annoyance. "Where's my boomerang? You took it away from me the last time I tried to instil some discipline into those brats."

This time it was Katara's turn to sigh, but not in relieve. "Sokka, don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"Where. Is. My. Boomerang?" Sokka asked through clenched teeth.

"That old thing…" Katara said, trying to sound as innocent and nonchalant as possible as she continued with her chores. "I threw it out if all of the other junk last week."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Sokka screamed, much to the delight of the little children outside.

"Oh Sokka, it's such a useless tool, always hurting people. I was afraid one of the children might put out an eye out with it. You know how much they like dangerous toys."

"You! How? I can't – Why?! Oh!! You are going on my list!" Sokka told Katara before he ran to the balcony again to wave his fist at the children, "And every single one of you as well! You're all on my list!!"

"Yeah, whatever, old fart!" a young boy yelled back at him, while the rest cheered at his daring opposition to power.

"Sleep with one eye open, my young nemesis! One! Eye! Open!" Sokka shouted back at him. This was met with a fresh hail of snowballs that Sokka was able to dodge just in time. "That goes for all of you little monsters as well!" he shouted from behind the safety of the balcony's railing.

The children merely laughed until Katara joined Sokka on the balcony and looked down at them. "Run along now, you only have an hour or two before the sun sets to play," Katara shouted to them while she gave them a warm smile, "And no more teasing of Sokka, ok? Or you won't be getting anymore of my baked goods."

"AAAHH!"

"No fair!"

"But he's practic'ly asking for it!"

"Shut up, you idiot!"

"We swear!"

Katara gave a small chuckle as the children ran off, basking in the gentle warmth of the setting sun as a slight wind caressed her cheeks.

"It's ok, you can come up now," she told the lurking Sokka.

"You sure? Those freaks can be pretty devious. This one time –"

"Sokka."

"What?"

"It's safe. You can get up now and tell me if you can see what I think I'm seeing."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka asked as he clambered up from behind the railing. He gave Katara an inquisitive look, but she didn't respond. She continued to look at the golden horizon. Sokka turned to look as well and noticed that the speck he had noticed earlier had grown bigger, much bigger. It had also turned red with a smaller dark speck underneath it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Katara asked with a slight nervous anxiety sneaking its way into her voice.

"Fire Nation War Balloon," Sokka stated gravely before he ran out of the room.

* * *

"More soldiers to the left! No, _my_ left! No, how can you get it wrong twice? There are only two different directions I could possibly have meant! No! How can it be so hard? I've been personally training you for years!" Sokka shouted at the palace guards as he tried to get them into formation before the ominously looming balloon landed into the palace's special area for aerial visitors, an icy platform standing above a cliff next to the palace, overlooking the constantly busy harbour.

"Sir, I think that might be part of the -"

"Finish that sentence, soldier, and you go straight to the _top_ of my list," Sokka scowled at the soldier. He had made sure everyone in the village was fully aware that there was _a list_, a long, long time ago "Form ranks, now! They're landing!"

The guards jumbled around like ants for a few painstaking moments before they settled into two shapes that would pass for straight lines if seen from a vast distance.

Sokka smacked his forehead with his palm, frustrated beyond words. After several years, the Fire Nation was finally sending what appeared to be an envoy. Whether it was on a peaceful mission or proclaiming war, to possibly offer the Tribe a chance to surrender, wasn't certain. Either way, a show of force needed to be made, to discourage war or to just generally impress. But with the way the Palace Guard was acting, Sokka would have had a better chance working with hog monkeys. The men were in disarrayed lines along the walkway between the palace and the platform, with most of them trying to put on a final gleam to their old, neglected armour. One of the soldiers was actually picking his nose. At this point Sokka gave up and merely walked past the men towards the platform, not giving a damn anymore.

The red balloon descended gracefully. A head peeked over the basket's side, before it threw a rope to the platform, which a soldier grabbed and hastily fastened to an icy ring protruding from the platform. A couple of soldiers joined him in order to pull the balloon down quickly.

Before the balloon had finished its descent and safely made contact with the ground, a figure blurred by the accelerating forces of gravity and a well aimed jump, jumped out of the basket, landed on the shoulders of one of the men, before it continued its journey towards Sokka. The guard, whose shoulders had briefly made contact with feet as light as feathers had barely begun to shout out "Attack!" than the assailant had already made it Sokka.

Sokka reached for his scabbard. It was empty. Damn it Katara, he cursed under his breath as he braced for contact with the swift unstoppable force heading towards him.

"Sokka!" it yelled as it made contact with him, throwing him onto the ground in a warm embrace. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Ty… Lee?" Sokka asked as he noticed that familiar looking braid, swinging in front of his face.

Several hands descended on Ty Lee, in an effort to pry the aggressor from the hands of their commander.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"We can't get the assassin off."

"Use your sword!"

"Oi! Watch where you're pointing that thing!"

"Iiikh! Sokka, help me! All of these pervs have their hands all over my supple body!"

"Stand down, you idiots!" Sokka shouted at his men, and then added to Ty Lee in a more polite tone, "Could you please let go of me Ty?"

"Hmpf. If you insist," Ty Lee said as she clambered off Sokka, staring daggers at the men who had interrupted her special welcome.

Sokka scratched at his bumped head. Meeting Ty Lee usually ended with some sort of physical harm to him, and he considered this time to have gotten lucky with a bruise to the back of the head. He got up, just in time to be knocked down again by a snowball to the face. _Great…_

"Did I get him?" Toph's voice came from the distance.

"Yeah, right in the kisser!" Ty Lee beamed towards the balloon.

"Sweet. Good to know my hearing based accuracy has improved. It took me hours to gather enough snow up there in the air."

Sokka raised himself onto his elbows so he could scowl at another aggravating girl he knew as she climbed over the basket's side. "Nice to know someone's happy with the situation…" he muttered while he peered around at his men, now standing in little groups, whispering and pointing at the two women. "So much for an impressive show of force… Should have brought their wives along, would probably have gotten less gossip…"

Sokka looked back at Ty Lee, who now had a disquietingly worried expression on her face.

"Toph, where's - ?"

"Right here," Zuko interrupted her question as he lifted himself slowly over the basket's edge. He looked horrible. Sokka couldn't help but gasp along with his men as he saw the ragged and bruised Fire Lord scramble onto the platform. Zuko then turned back around and lifted a large bundled thing out of the basket. Tipped boots protruded from one end of the bundle. He carefully carried it towards the palace as everyone craned to get a look at what he was carrying; even Sokka was forced to get up.

As Zuko got closer, slowly limping, Sokka noticed a familiar face among the bundles, a face he thought he would never see again. The calm, serene expression created a terrifying contrast with the face that made Sokka's stomach twist painfully.

"T-t-that's Azula!" he stammered in shock, before he glanced fearfully at Zuko's bruised face. "She's crazy and homicidal, several times over!"

"She… she's gotten better…" Zuko said, ignoring the slight, before he collapsed onto his knees. "But she needs help. Please… help her…"

"Zuko!" both Toph and Ty Lee exclaimed as fatigue made Zuko collapse.

"He slept through most of the trip here, I thought he was ok!"

"Oh c'mon! Look at all those wounds and bruises. Of course he wasn't okay!"

As the two girls bickered, oblivious to their other travelling companion's condition and the odd looks they were receiving from the soldiers, Sokka motioned to some of his men and ordered the two collapsed Fire Nation royalty to be taken care of. He then let out a long disheartened sigh. "Some reunion this was… very impressive…all around."

* * *

Author's notes: I just noticed you can add nice, clear lines into your text with the site's own editing function instead of using *** to indicate a change of scene. I'm very proud of this discovery, sort of like if Columbus had found America and then someone had pointed out that the Vikings, Chinese and naturally the Native Americans beat him to the punch.


	10. Chapter 10: So, How've You Been?

Chapter 10: So, How've You Been?

As dark shapes crisscrossed against his eyelids, Zuko became aware of a warm blue glow. It began to break through the shades, flushing his closed eyes with a cleansing power. He could feel an odd wetness on his chest, warming an old scar, while soft linens caressed his back with its own collection of scars. As energy surged into his body from the warm glob like thing on his chest, he focused all of his will power into cracking his eyes open. At first all he could see were strange multicoloured blurs bathed in a blue glow. Then it all suddenly came into painful focus. Zuko closed his eyes and let out a groan, fighting back the nausea caused by vertigo.

"I think he's coming around," he heard a familiar voice say down around his midriff. "Fetch the others will you?"

"OK!" an excited, high voice said, before the soft sounds of pattering feet started and diminished slowly into an unseen distance.

Zuko took a census of his body. He could feel bits and pieces now, to his dismay. Everything stung as if he'd been rolling around on burning coal for hours. He groaned softly as his nerves started functioning properly, delivering painful amounts of information to his worn out brain. Agh, that smarts, he thought.

"Could you… stop doing whatever it is you're doing to me?" Zuko asked hesitantly.

"What? Stop healing you?" the familiar woman's voice asked, slightly amused.

"Yeah, it hurts," Zuko said as he raised a trembling hand to rub his aching brow.

"You were bleeding everywhere from every place, internally and externally. Several bones were fractured in places where they're not supposed to. You're entire body was a purple, trembling mass, now it's a bluish, quivering heap. And I think you might have had a concussion or two. Trust me; you don't want me to stop."

"…Are you giving me a medical report or trying to make jokes, because I'm not entirely sure… maybe I did hit my head a couple of times…"

The woman chuckled slightly. Then the warmness disappeared from Zuko's chest. A gentle hand was placed on his forehead.

"Can you open your eyes? Are you in pain – oh, of course you are – in how much?"

"Actually, I feel a lot better now that you…" Zuko began, but stopped as a foul taste filled his mouth instead of the words for the remaining sentence. His eyes shot open as he bolted up into a sitting position. "Bucket! Need bucket!"

"There's one in –"

"Blaaarrgh!" Zuko went as he vomited over the side of the bed he was lying in. After he finished emptying his almost empty stomach, he made to wipe his mouth, but a white-hot pain shot through his back, paralyzing him. His body started shaking violently. He fell off the bed, onto the thick rugs he had just vomited on.

The familiar blue glow filled his eye sockets as the warmth once again spread through his body.

"I told you – damn it – I told you, you weren't ready. Try to, to hold still, please!" The woman shouted worriedly at Zuko. He could feel her hands on his back, seeking the source of his pain. When they found it, they formed a cup where warm liquid gathered into a throbbing mass, pumping warm energy into his body. Zuko tried to focus on it, to help the energy flow to where it needed to go, as he had intimate knowledge of directing energy from lightning redirection, but the pain consumed all of his thoughts.

Finally, the pain subsided. Zuko panted deeply, since the seizure had zapped all of his strength. He opened his eyes, and turned his head to look at the blurry shadow above him, quickly coming into focus.

"Katara, zat you?" Zuko asked weakly. The woman above him hadn't changed much; she still wore traditional Water Tribe garments, although they had a few more decorations than the average ones Zuko had previously seen. Her hair had grown even longer, with the occasional braid running along the brown, sleek mass of hair on her back. The biggest difference that Zuko could remember of her old self were the eyes or actually the surroundings her eyes. The eyes still served as a way to peer into the calm, loving, sympathetic, forgiving personality she possessed, but they had deep shadows around them and the beginnings of wrinkles at the edges.

"Yes, Zuko it's me," Katara answered.

"You don't look so good," Zuko said while trying to get up. Katara's hand shot forth to gently, but determinedly, hold him down.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Now hold still. I'm afraid you'll have to stay there on the floor for a while," Katara said while giving the air a gentle sniff. "At least until you can handle being moved."

"Great," muttered Zuko as he closed his eyes, trying to will his body to heal faster.

* * *

"Okay, now that we're all gathered here, conscious and not projectile vomiting over _someone's_ bedroom –"

"Sokka, will you let it go?" Katara asked, exasperated.

"Over a dozen guest rooms in the palace and you have to put sir Pukes-a-lot into _my_ room!" Sokka exclaimed as he pointed at himself.

"And I've told _you_ over a dozen times that those rooms are too far away from my own. If I had to trudge up and down the palace like that throughout the day, I'd never have time to actually heal Zuko along with my other chores and duties," Katara explained calmly, although a dark look in her gaze spoke of a rising storm.

"But _my_ room? You could have put him in your own room, then you two could have been even closer," Sokka said, still feeling indignant.

"Oh Sokka, please, give it a rest. What's done is done," Katara said, as she rubbed her brow in frustration.

"Fine, but I won't be forgetting it so easily," Sokka said with a glare at Katara before he turned to the gathered group at large. "As you all probably know, we're here to discuss what to do with the Fire Nation.

"If we already probably know, which we do, why bother stating it?" Toph asked from the floor where she was sitting.

Sokka gave her a glare as well. "Better safe than sorry with the likes of you two," he said as he pointed at both Toph and Ty Lee sitting on the floor.

"Us? What'd we do this time?" Ty Lee asked, portraying an air of innocence as she gestured at herself.

"Rob him of his dignity, what little's left by now after he's had it for years, I'd wager," Toph answered with a smirk.

Ty Lee gave a little giggle. "Awh… look! He's blushing! He looks so cute when he blushes, don't you think?"

"I wouldn't know, but shutting him up sure is funny."

"Why you –" Sokka started but was interrupted by Katara.

"Will you two settle down so we can get down to business? It was bad enough with him going on about the state of his room, but now you two as well?" She asked, looking very tired as she said this.

"Sorry, Katara," the pair muttered like a pair of misbehaving kids.

"Good. So where exactly are we starting at?" Katara asked Sokka, the self-proclaimed leader of the meeting.

"Well, let's start with what we know. From what I've been able to gather from what Ty Lee's told me, and trust me, it wasn't easy, Zuko's been dethroned with a military coup," Sokka answered as he gave a sideways glance at Zuko, lying on the bed with his head propped on his arm. Zuko looked away, but muttered quietly, "yeah".

"Yeah, it was all just so horrible, so not nice," Ty Lee interjected, "There I was just minding my own business in the council meeting, flirting with one of the servants, when some soldiers burst into the room. They arrested most of the council members, although one or two were left alone. Then they came at me, but I gave them a jab, and a punch, and a kick, and then gave them the slip as they started shooting fire at me. I immediately ran to Azula" – she gave a nervous glance around the room at the mention of her name, but continued as no one seemed willing to stop her exposition – "Who was just blasting away at some cronies. We fought our way towards the exit, but then we were like, encircled. I thought we were goners. But that's when Zuko showed up and showed those flunkies what it means to be a real firebender. Unfortunately Azula collapsed for some reason, maybe she was tired from all the fighting or something, and Zuko had to make sure we got out, so he blew up the palace entrance and we ran for the balloon. We took it and flew to the meeting place Zuko had set up with Toph. We picked her up and came straight here." Ty Lee gasped for air as she finished explaining.

"Uhm, thanks for the fast recap," was all that Sokka was able to say.

"Is the Fire Nation really planning to attack us again?" Toph asked.

"Seems like it. Remember that Earth Kingdom envoy? He had all that military info about troop movements and weapon production," Katara said.

"Not to mention the fact that the admiral who betrayed me made it abundantly clear that invasion was the main reason behind my dethroning, because I was bleeding the country dry," Zuko added bitterly, staring at the floor.

Everyone in the room looked at him. He hadn't really spoken after he had regained consciousness. This was the first time he had voiced his opinions on the matter, or anything actually.

Zuko continued staring at the floor, not wanting to see the most likely pitying looks he was being given. He was the Fire Lord and he had been removed from the throne. He had failed his people. He had failed at leading his nation with a strong, inspiring example and had then failed at keeping his throne.

"Zuko, you don't really think like that, do you?"

"You were the best Fire Lord ever, you helped bring peace to the world and like, stop the war!"

"Those guys who dethroned you are just stupid."

The three women tried to cheer Zuko up, ineffectually, but then turned to Sokka, with accusing looks in their eyes.

"What? I gotta say something too?" Sokka asked, feeling extremely nervous under the pressure of the three stares boring into him. No answers were needed.

"Oh c'mon, I… fine. Don't worry Zuko, I'm sure we'll think of something and have you back on the throne soon enough. Just so you know, those Fire Nation traitors are going straight to the top of my list."

"Uh, thanks, Sokka. I guess…" Zuko said solemnly, turning his head up to give the group a look, before it descended again, embarrassed slightly by the concern his old friends were showing towards him.

"Well, now that that's settled… what are we going to do now?" Sokka asked.

No one could answer his question, and only a pair of eyes could avoid not shirking away from it. Toph stared back at him with her glassy stare, turned her head around, waiting for someone to state the obvious, but more elegantly than she ever could. But no answer was forthcoming from the others as they stared away from each other, shamed by being unable to provide an adequate answer.

Toph waited for a moment longer until she sighed and delivered what in her mind was the obvious course to take. "We go and beat those creeps senseless."

Ty Lee gave a weak chuckle, before she stifled it quickly, since no one else in the group seemed to have taken Toph's words seriously. They remained solemnly quiet.

"Oh c'mon! It's so obvious. It's what we did with Ozai. What's different now?" Toph asked, bewildered by the lack of enthusiasm.

"Maybe it's just that… maybe we just have a different perspective on this, since we, uh, actually are involved with the political schemes of the world. Despite what might have been an illegal coup, those "creeps" are now in control, and even though they're still planning war, it might not be too late to try and negotiate with them," Katara answered.

"What? Why?" Toph asked.

"We don't want to risk any lives unnecessarily. If there's a nonviolent option, we should try to take it. Before the last war, no one even knew that a war was coming. There wasn't any room for negotiation back then, but now we have a chance to use what we've learned about the mistakes of the past and try to do better. All the Fire Nation wants is better trade and safer borders right?" Katara said.

Before Toph could object, Zuko's hollow voice beat her to the punch. "It won't work, Katara. They won't be satisfied with that; they'll want retribution for the decade of humiliation they've been subjected to. For the Fire Nation, an offense has always been the best defence. They'll try to take over the whole world again, and they'll prosper because of it. Warfare has been etched into the very heart of my country for over a century. The only way to stop them will be through force."

"You're not suggesting…?" Katara asked, worried by the response she was about to hear.

"We need to gather a force strong enough to cut this thing in the bud, before the real fighting begins," Zuko answered, raising a stony gaze to meet Katara's.

"I'm afraid I agree with Zuko. We should mobilize our forces as fast as possible and inform our allies. Fast, decisive action is what we need, if we want to stop another war from starting. Like you said Katara, this time we know the storm is coming, this time we can stop it before it even gets a chance to begin," Sokka said as he scratched the back of his head absentmindedly.

Katara was silent for a moment as she thought about this for a moment, until, "No, I can't accept that. There has to be a better way. Aang" – her voice faltered momentarily – "we didn't work this hard, to make this world a better place, so we could just resort to the easy, barbaric option. We'll try to negotiate with the new leadership. And that's final."

"Katara –"

"No. No more blood or violence. We set out to make the world a better place, and if we attack the Fire Nation, nothing will have changed. We have to try harder… it's what Aang would have done," Katara finished sadly, as she clasped at a crudely carved betrothal necklace around her neck, with what looked like a large arrow on it.

The room was left silent after these heartfelt words, with each person trying to decide what it was they wanted, needed and had a responsibility to. It was only when the doors to the room creaked open that the deafening silence was broken.

"Mom, we're hungry," a young girl said as she peaked nervously from behind the door.

"I'll be there in a minute. Ok, sweetie?" Katara told the girl sweetly. "Take your brother to the kitchen. I'll come and make you a snack soon."

"Promise?" the girl asked shyly as she glanced at the other people in the room. "Cos last time you said that while having a meeting…"

"I promise," Katara said with a gentle smile.

"Ok, but hurry, we're hungrier than tiger seals," the girl said before she rushed off, returned to shut the door again, and ran off once again.

"Those kids," Katara said, smiling as she shook her head gently.

"Yeah, those damn kids… especially that boy of yours," Sokka said, remembering a snowball to the face with deadly accuracy.

"Wait, when did you have kids? Are they - ?" Ty Lee asked Katara, before she turned peevishly to Zuko with an accusingly wagging finger, "You better have a good excuse for not letting me know. Just because I was away with the Kyoshi warriors for a few years of intensive training doesn't mean I don't deserve to know what's happening with my friends."

"I had no idea either," Zuko said as he stared slack jawed at Katara.

"Didn't we inform you? Oh, it must have slipped our minds because they were born just before… before Aang disappeared," Katara answered softly.

"Oh, sorry… but they're Aang's right?" Ty Lee asked, blushing slightly.

"Of course," Katara said, with infinite patience. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pair of hungry mouths to fill."

She strode towards the doors, where she stopped to say, "Oh, by the way guys."

"Yeah?" Sokka asked.

"I'll be back later, after feeding the kids, to check up on Zuko's health and give him another healing session, so be sure to wrap up this meeting quick. No excuses. I want to take care of that as soon as possible because I still have a ton of things to do after that. You got that?" she asked, giving each member in the room a scrutinizing look, lingering a bit longer on both Ty Lee and Toph. Then she opened the door, and walked out.

* * *

As Katara's tender hands moved across Zuko's muscled chest, searching for any further signs of injury she might have missed earlier, he started becoming a bit nervous.

"Are we done yet?" he asked impatiently.

"Almost," Katara said, sounding rather unfocused. Maybe it was just Zuko's imagination, but she seemed to have a sort of dreamy look in her eyes as she inspected his chest.

He remained silent as Katara continued her inspection of his body, occasionally taking water out of a pouch she carried in order to give concentrated bursts of healing on places where she deemed it necessary.

Zuko could feel a bead of sweat on his brow, shivering slightly before it descended, met another bead, and continued its journey along with its companion down towards his nose. Zuko stared at the bead, annoyed deeply by it for some reason lost to his conscious mind. He tried blowing it away inconspicuously, since Katara had ordered him to remain perfectly still for the inspection.

Suddenly the sweat drop on his nose evaporated. Zuko, shocked speechless by such an odd occurrence in such cold conditions, lifted his eyes and found another pair staring back at them.

"You know, if it was bothering you that much, you could have said something," Katara said as she stared into his golden eyes.

"Sorry…" Zuko muttered. "Are we done now?"

"I guess so."

"Good, It was starting to get a bit chilly with no shirt on," Zuko said as he pulled a dark shirt on.

"It was probably caused by all that sweating, which is pretty odd in these conditions. Are you sure none of your chakras are blocked or something? I know firebenders are good at regulating their own body temperatures, but a closed chakra could wreak havoc on such processes," Katara said contemplatively as she used a towel to wipe her wet hands. She stared at her hands blankly, with a tired look in her eyes.

"You ok?" Zuko asked her uncertainly as he stepped closer to her.

Katara snapped back to attention, shocked slightly by Zuko's voice. "Oh… yeah, I'm fine it's just that…"

"What?"

"Well, everything. It's all wrong. Us at the brink of war again, and no… No Aang here to help us through it all like last time," Katara said, giving a small sigh, "The children didn't even get a chance to know their father."

"Um, I know this might sound a bit… impolite but what exactly happened to Aang? I actually only recently found out he went missing," Zuko asked awkwardly, his hand itching to go and scratch at an even bigger itch on his scar, but resisting.

Katara gave him a contemplative stare. "You didn't know? How?" she asked quietly, but even then, the words sounded infuriatingly accusing in Zuko's ears.

"Look, I was busy ruling a country," Zuko started out forcefully, but finished his remark with a softer tone after the look Katara gave him, "I know it's not a proper excuse, but trust me, I'm already ashamed enough of it as it is."

Katara continued looking at him silently, until she answered his previous question, "I remember it so vaguely. At the time, when I said my goodbyes to him, I had no idea they would be my final words to him before he disappeared. I need to keep reminding myself of that brief moment, so I won't forget how he was before he left."

She turned to look out through a window, where creamy, clouds were growing dark in the twilight. "He said he had to go and do something important, that he'd seen a vision or something from the past Avatars. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew for certain that there was some sort of crisis in the Spirit World, and that it had begun, growing steadily worse, the day he defeated Ozai."

"Back when the comet… and he took my father's bending away… You don't think there's a connection, do you?"

"I have no idea. It could just as easily be a coincidence, although it seems rather unlikely. Great changes occurred in our world that day. A tyrant was stopped. A land saved. And a war ended. Who knows, maybe those changes somehow carried into the Spirit World, our worlds _are_ connected after all," Katara finished explaining and turned to face Zuko. "Well now I've told you about my husband, what about _you're_ better half? Where's Mai? I noticed that she wasn't with you when you came here. Was she...?" her questions trailed away as she saw how Zuko reacted to the mention of Mai's name. Zuko's broad shoulders sagged, and he turned his gaze away from Katara, so that his face was covered in the growing shadows.

"Zuko? Did something happen to Mai?" Katara asked, touching his shoulder reassuringly.

"She… she left me, years ago," Zuko admitted, filling those few words with so much guilt that even Katara felt uneasy.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say," Katara said as she stepped closer to him. "I guess we've both lost someone important to us, huh?"

"Yeah," Zuko admitted as he turned his head to look at her. His eyes felt moist, and Katara seemed somewhat blurry to him. He blinked a couple of times, and brought her face back to focus, closer to his face than he had expected. Her other armed reach up to his free shoulder, like the other hand, seeking to help. Zuko brought his arms around her waist.

The pair stared into each other's eyes deeply, seeing a familiar pain reflected in them. Both moved as one, holding the other tightly in a comforting embrace.

After a minute or two, however, Katara broke the soothing silence between them, as she peeled herself away from Zuko. "Uh, I gotta go and – check up on the kids. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask, we're well known for our hospitality here in the South Pole," Katara said, with a small smirk, hidden from Zuko as she kept her face down towards the floor. She then walked out of the room, careful not to show any emotion that might mislead him. As she was about to close the door behind her however, she gave a quick fleeting look at Zuko before she disappeared.

Zuko was left alone to wonder. After all the guilt of losing his nation, throne, home and all the mixed feelings the memories of his former wife had provoked in him, he felt rather – what was the odd word his Uncle had used when they'd gone and watched some plays? Ah yes… "cathartic". After his brief, intimate moment with Katara, all of his worries, anxieties and pains had melted away. She really was the greatest healer, Zuko mused to himself as he looked out into the cold night skies, almost empty of stars.


	11. Chapter 11: Burning Passions

Chapter 11: Burning Passions

After seeing her for the first time in over a decade, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Her visage plagued his waking thoughts constantly, and the dreams were even more persistent. He thought he had put her behind him years ago, that he had learned to accept never meeting, even seeing her again. But now that she was so close to him, he couldn't resist. He had tried to bury himself in pointless chores, some kind of way to distract himself from his pains, but her face came to distract him constantly. After a while he had given up to his primal urges, now seeking a way to see her, to confront her. He had to, had to, _had to_…

But he had been denied entrance by the Water Tribe soldiers guarding her room. He had argued with them extensively, appealing to his high status, even trying to bribe them, but nothing had worked. Apparently she was not to be seen at the moment. How could she possibly deny him his one chance to show her how much her very presence affected him? How could she not allow him to show her how much she meant to him after all those years? It was maddening. He had to find a way to meet her, NOW!

He would wait until midnight. There was a new moon tonight. It would allow him to gain entrance to her room. He could finally show her how much she meant to him. He went to retrieve equipment needed for such a daring plan as he had concocted in his desperation to see her. Doing this might destroy his life and everything he had helped rebuild for a decade, but he had to see her, he just had to, _had to_!

When midnight came, the village was drenched in all consuming darkness. Only the torches of the passing guards lent any light on to the palace she was sleeping in. He decided to put his old mask on just in case. There would probably be no need for it in the pitch-blackness that was this night, but he felt stronger with it. It hid his weaknesses, revealing his true self from the restrains of conscience.

He made his way up the side of the building with hooks he had acquired for just this purpose. Nothing would stop him from seeing her tonight. This was his moment, to find closure with her, after more than a decade since they had last seen. It was time to see how _she_ felt, especially after she learned how much she meant to him. But he would have to be careful, as to not alert any of the patrolling guards. It was slow progress, but he could endure the agony of it all with the knowledge that this was the night when everything would change, for both of them.

Finally he reached her window and carefully jumped in with grace that revealed his expertise in such matters as silent infiltration. He looked around. He was in her bedroom. The room was lavishly decorated, fit for a princess. But the décor was completely lost on him as he noticed her sleeping figure on a large bed. She was squirming slightly, muttering in her sleep. She seemed to be going through a complex dream, as her voice would shift through many emotions, from angry to happy, sad to gleeful, jealous to passionate. He couldn't hear her words, but they didn't matter. Just seeing her lying there filled his head with the sound of his brutally thumping heart. It was now, the moment when she would see what madness she had instilled in him all those years ago. He would finally have closure.

He crept closer to her, digging for the present he had for her in his pocket.

"Oh yes, Zu…" She let out a loud mutter that quickly trailed off.

He froze, fearing that she would wake up before he was ready, but she merely continued her slumber. He continued creeping towards her, now with his present tightly grasped in his fist. Once he gave it to her, he could finally feel happiness that had deserted him ever since she had left him behind.

He was finally standing above her, staring into her beautiful face, as it turned occasionally due to the dream she was having, still muttering under her breath. He took a moment to fully ingest this moment, to carve it so deeply into his mind that he would remember it until the day he died.

Then he raised the dagger he had been holding like a lifeline. He took a moment to decide where to stab her to end her life. In the heart? No, she couldn't have one, a person who had tortured him, broken him in so many ways, couldn't possibly have a heart. He decided to cut her throat, it was where her snakelike tongue lived. If he cut her throat, he would never hear her chilling, mocking laughter ever again.

This was his moment, finally! To end her wicked life, retribution for all the things she had caused him, and countless others. Revenge was sweet, ever so sweet. He let out a demented laugh.

"Zuko? Zat you?" she spoke, stirring from her sleep as her eyes tried to focus on the shadow hanging over her bed.

"No darling, just the man you tortured to satisfy your sadistic urges. Well, now it's my turn, sweetie," he said as his dagger plunged towards her throat.

"NO!" she screamed raising her hands in defence of her body.

He was so close, so close, when a blue warmness filled him. She was there on the bed, but then disappeared behind a veil of flickering azure flames as they consumed everything. Had he been successful? He couldn't tell anymore, all he could feel was the calming warmth seeping into his very being, until all his perceptions failed him, leaving nothing but oblivion.

Outside, a pillar of blue flames illuminated the dark night, casting a pale light on the entire village. The shadows lengthened and for a moment, the flames danced in the air, filling the sky with an unnatural light. Then came the crash, as tons of debris fell from the palace's tower from which the flames had spurted out.

Ty Lee rushed in through the bedroom's door, leaving behind two stunned guards. They had never felt such a tremendous tremor in all their lives while living on the South Pole.

Ty Lee gingerly jumped over obstacles until she reached a crouching figure, sitting in the middle of a small circle of gently burning orange flames. Where the bed had been, there was a smouldering crater. Most of the woman's clothes had also burned off, but she herself seemed to be unhurt. Ty Lee crouched down carefully next to the shivering figure.

"Azula, what happened here?" Ty Lee asked worriedly with fear creeping into her usually joyful voice.

The shivering stopped, and Azula slowly turned her head towards Ty Lee, meeting her fearful look with a calm, determined, golden gaze. Her reply was eerily distant.

"He wasn't Zuzu."

* * *

Author's notes/Preview of next the 2 chapters: I hope I managed to mislead at least a couple of you in this chapter (this was written just after the Zuko/Katara moment, just to mislead). The next chapters will delve into Azula's past (and her fractured mind) along with Zuko's past along with hers, of course. There might also be something about Mai... but who knows? This is just a preview. *wink wink nudge nudge say no more*


	12. Interlude 1: A Prison in Her Mind

Interlude 1: A Prison in Her Mind

"_What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow_

_Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, _

_You cannot say, or guess, for you know only_

_A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,_

_And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, _

_And the dry stone no sound of water."_

- T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

Azula had spent months in her fireproof cell, caged like an animal, shackled like the lowliest criminal, alone with her thoughts. Deprived from any meaningful ways of exerting her power and with no victim to belittle or torture, this was not the best idea if healing her fractured mind was intended. Left with no anchor to reality and no one to inflict her own misery on, her mind continued its collapse. She was now constantly besieged by the phantoms of her life. There was the Avatar, risen from the dead, mocking her weak attempt on his life. Those water peasants jeering along with that earthbending midget, who kept her imprisoned. Then there were her backstabbing friends, taking turns to twist the knife in her back, as they told her what an idiot she was for trusting anyone. But she could handle them, a fire breath and some derogatory shouting usually silenced the lowbred imbeciles.

It was the other visions, the ones about her family that really got to her. His pathetic Uncle, preaching empty tea-filled salvation. He had no idea of true power, he had always been weak, unwilling to take advantage of an opportunity to seize more power when it came to him. She had achieved what he never could, conquered Ba Sing Se, but the fat oath didn't mind, he just laughed it off. He said he was happier this way, told her she could be too if she let in the healing power of love. Pfft, how disgusting.

Then there was her father, turning his back on her. She wasn't enough, she had failed him like all the other weaklings in their family, and she wasn't worth his time or appreciation. She would beg for him to come back, to give her another chance. He didn't usually come back, except sometimes to burn her face, saying that she had learned nothing of power, of how to wield it and that now pain would be her teacher, like it had been for her loser of a brother. She kept telling him with tears in her eyes that she wasn't anything like Zuko, that she was better, that she was worth his love. But in the end, he always left her behind, laughing gleefully with no more hindrances keeping him back.

And then there was her mother. She would hold her closely, saying that she loved her, but Azula knew it was all a lie. She had always loved Zuko more, and that was why she had left her. First she had left her because she was a monster, and then her father had left because she wasn't enough of a monster. Azula blamed her for all of this. It was her mother who had turned her into a monster, always loving Zuko, while she was left alone to find her own way in this cruel, brutal world. And when she had finally become the great monster to, in a sense, spite her mother, it hadn't been enough. Everyone had left her and then her mother had returned to mock her with her false promises of love. She was the monster here, offering it to her, and when she finally accepted it, she once again left her behind, leaving her crying.

And last but definitely not least, was her dear loving brother in his shining new Fire Lord regalia. He would visit her frequently, always telling her that he was there for her, that he would never give up on her. Hah! The failure felt pity for her? She would have destroyed him in a fair Agni Kai, without his little peasant friend helping him with her deceitful tricks. How could the fool keep talking about honour and reclaiming it when he couldn't even commit to a fair duel. Hah! The weakling! He needed her more than he tried to make it appear to her that she needed him. He kept talking about helping her. She didn't need a loser's help, she didn't need anyone! They all betrayed her in the end anyway.

She was fine being alone in her little kingdom, as there were no traitors here. And if they did turn up, she would banish them like she had done before.

* * *

"I banish you!" She shouted as a tray of soup with a straw was pushed into her cell with an iron poker through a small hatch. She stared at the bowl for a while, unsure of what to do with this newcomer. Was it a threat to her? Another traitor? She would let fire cleanse the wretched fiend of its traitorous ways.

When she was finally happy with the cleansing, she crawled closer to her victim's charred remains. The bowl was burned, the straw inexistent, and most of the soup had evaporated. Victory! Her enemy had fled, leaving nothing but his supplies behind. Sustenance at last! A feast in her glory!

Azula lapped out what remained of the soup like a dog.

* * *

Zuko walked into a special room. It was a small, square room with just enough room to stretch his hands from one side to the other. There was an opened hatch in the ceiling that had been opened for his visit. The wall he was facing started to rumble as it was lowered into the ground by unseen mechanical devices. Behind them where thick bars, separating the room Zuko was in from Azula's small, confined cell.

A burst of azure fire was the first thing to greet him. By now, this was expected, and Zuko redirected the fire ball up through the hatch in the ceiling. After this fiery attack, he was assaulted by cool air streaming from Azula's cell. Even with all the countermeasures designed to dampen her firebending abilities, Azula was still impressively capable of spitting fire balls. It was a good thing she couldn't use her arms, otherwise he might be missing parts of his body he had grown attached to, or vice versa.

"Oh, Zuzu, it's just you. I thought it might have been _another_ treacherous relative of mine," She said sarcastically as she gazed at him, and then leisurely turned to inspect an empty spot on her floor with a slight annoyed look on her face as she investigated something only apparent to her.

"Azula, please, save your insults for someone else. I'm here to help," Zuko said.

"Fine, release my bonds and let me loose. Maybe we can have another Agni Kai, a fair one this time," Azula said as she twisted her head into a lopsided position in order to give Zuko a blank gaze. Her messed up hair fell down and covered half of her face, obscuring for the most part, a subtle change in her eyes, revealing a deep, dark, and seething hatred. But she kept it in check, she was better than that. She'd show them, show them all what it meant to be Azula, princess of the Fire Nation.

"And then what, Azula? You'll go on a little rampage across the city, burning everything down, seeking empty vengeance on those you think betrayed you?"

"Sounds like a good start to me."

"Azula, we never deserted you. We want to help you."

"Hah!"Azula gave a mirthless laugh, "We? Are the other traitors out there? Just wishing to see how they broke me? But I won't give them the satisfaction. They're out there, afraid to come in… ha! Like they should be. Because when I get out of here I'm going to kill you all! Hear me Mai? Ty Lee? As soon as I've dealt with dear little Zuzu here, of course." She gave him another glance, with some of her inner workings slipping through the façade.

"Azula, calm down."

"Don't take that tone with me! Just because you're the Fire Lord now, doesn't mean you can act like our father. You'll never be half the man he was."

"It's good to know that even you don't think we have anything in common. Azula, our father was a monster," there was a slight reaction from Azula at this word that went unnoticed by Zuko, "He didn't love either one of us. The only reason he favoured you was because you were so eager to be his little pawn."

"Shut up! You don't know anything! Father loved me, unlike he did you, you scarred freak! I'm a prodigy. I've proven myself to have initiative and ingenuity. I took down Ba Sing Se! And all you did was waste years in exile. But he gave me his love, something you never had! Something only our weak, wretched mother ever gave you. It made you weak, just like her. I hate you, hate you both!"

"Azula, please, I just want to help you. You're my sister and I –"

"Leave me alone you snivelling, tea swilling freak!! You have nothing that I want, father will come for me, he loves me."

"No, Azula, he won't, he can't."

"What?" She gave him a glimpse of her insecurity, before she gathered her hatred to act as a shield for her once again. "What are you talking about, fool?"

"He can't bend anymore. The Avatar took his bending away. Now he's locked in a normal jail cell."

"AARRH!" Azula shouted as she let loose a volley of fire from her screaming mouth, which was ultimately expertly deflected into the opening by Zuko. She couldn't believe it! Her father was a weakling, who couldn't even heat his own tea! She couldn't believe it… But somehow she had always known that he too would betray her, leave her to rot in this prison. The weak fool! How could he have abandoned her!

But her anger couldn't mask the loss she now felt, having had her last delusional hope for salvation being ripped away from her. A stream of tears ran down her cheeks, as a sign of her last hope lost, and the undeniable fact that she was truly alone in the world.

"Azula, please, let me –" Zuko started to plead, but his efforts to reach out to his little sister were lost in the manic, sad wailing as she screamed and cried. Nothing could reach behind the wall of inner demons she had constructed for herself.

So Zuko left her alone, hoping that next time he could find a better way to help her.

* * *

Outside the cell he met Mai and Ty Lee, the former leaning uneasily against a wall with the latter pacing nervously, biting her nails.

"It didn't go well, did it?" Mai asked sympathetically, sneaking a glance towards the room from which Zuko had emerged.

"No, but I'm not giving up on her either," Zuko responded with sombre firmness.

They were all silent for a moment, with the only sound coming from Ty Lee's pacing feet.

"I don't mean to sound cruel, I was her friend after all, sorta, but why bother? She's crazy, and on top of that she's still the hateful little fiend she always was," Mai said, daring a shy glance at Zuko.

Ty Lee stopped pacing, facing away from them. The hand she had been biting fell to her side silently.

"Because she's my sister!" Zuko said, louder than he had intended. "I can't just let her rot in there!"

"Sorry, Zuko, I didn't mean – "

"I know what you meant," Zuko said silently as he walked off.

"Zuko, wait! I…" Mai's voice trailed off. Then she turned to Ty Lee, who was still facing the other way. "You know that I didn't –"

"I know what you meant," Ty Lee said as well as she too walked away, but in a different direction as Zuko, her gait almost a slouch compared to the usual spring she had in her steps.

Mai stood there for a while, until she walked off after Zuko.


	13. Interlude 2: Not a Monster, Not Alone

Interlude 2: Not a Monster, Not Alone

Several years later

She was alone, all alone. She had been for so long, with nothing but ghosts and her dark thoughts to keep her company. The despair was overwhelming. She couldn't even muster the strength to stand up anymore. What was the point? _She_ was the freak, the monster. No one cared if she lived or died. No, that was wrong. They'd love it if she died. She was a monster who brought nothing but pain and misery into the world. And now she was all alone, as she deserved.

She couldn't even weep for her own fate, as she had run out of tears a long time ago. Not that she thought she deserved any kind of pity, from Zuko or herself… Zuko… He was the only one who had visited her. He would tell her what was happening in the outside world, how he strove for a united world, and surprisingly, how much he missed her. But she never responded anymore. He had his life and she hers. She didn't understand why he was subjecting himself to meeting her. She was crazy, evil, spiteful and full of hate. She was a monster, yet he was always there for her. She had started to feel guilty. She had lashed out at him many times. In the beginning it was because she really did hate him, then she wanted to be alone, and after that, she had wished that he would move on and do something more meaningful with his life than waste it on her. She didn't want to cause any more pain to him.

Eventually Zuko had left her as well; she knew it would happen eventually. But she no longer felt angry at this, but content with the knowledge that she was no longer making him suffer. She had developed a new relationship with him, and knowing that he was out there, in the world, making a difference, filled her with an alien emotion to her: pride in another person. It kept her warm in the cold darkness of her cell. It was the only thing that was real in her life anymore, so she held on to it with all her strength, no matter how hard her demons tried to deprive her of it.

Then, suddenly, Zuko came back into her life.

The wall rumbled, sliding down slowly. Azula was lying on the ground, in a pit of sorrow and loneliness, not knowing if the rumbling was real or another hallucination.

"Azula?" Zuko whispered softly.

Azula flinched. Even though it was a whisper, her name sounded so firm, so strong in the mouth of her brother.

"I'm sorry I haven't come to see you in a while. There was… a dispute about the inner workings of the nation that I had to deal with."

"Zuko?" Azula asked meekly as she slightly raised her head, in a weak attempt at deciding if this encounter was real or not.

"Yes it's me, and I promise I will never leave you again. I swear, I'll always be there for you."

"Zuzu?" Azula could finally see her brother's face, a gently smiling beacon of love, forgiveness and peace. "Y-you came back. You didn't leave me like everyone else."

"No, I would never do that," Zuko said as he stepped closer to the bars and crouched down, so that the two siblings were face to face.

"Zuzu, I… I…" she tried to convey how she felt about seeing him again, but she didn't know words to describe how she felt. She had never used such words. She broke into tears.

"Azula," Zuko said softly as he reached through the bars to gently stroke her cheek.

"I'm not a monster," Azula wept as she allowed herself to be drawn closer to Zuko.

"I know that, Azula. I never thought you were one."

"But I did terrible things to you! I tried to kill you! I don't deserve you," she said as she stopped inching towards him, now staring at the ground in shame.

"Azula, it's okay. I forgive you. I just want us to be a family again. You're all I have left here in the Fire Nation. I haven't seen Uncle in years; we've both been too busy. Please Azula, let me in, let me help you," Zuko said as he reached for her chin and slowly lifted it, so they could look into each other's golden eyes. "I love you."

"Oh, Zuzu, you mean that?"

"With all my heart."

"I-I love you too," she said still crying, but it didn't hurt anymore. She sat up and leaned against the bars, so Zuko could reach and hug her. "Don't leave me again, please, please, please…"

"I won't."

They stayed like that for hours, in perfect silence, with only the occasional sniffle from Azula breaking it. Nothing more needed to be said, it was enough that they were there for each other.

* * *

As Zuko emerged from Azula's cell, he was greeted by a sombre Mai, staring at the ground.

"Mai, what are you doing here?" Zuko asked, shocked by her sudden appearance. "I haven't seen you in weeks."

Mai was silent for a moment then said quietly, "That's the problem, isn't it."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Us! You! How you're never there when I need you," she said hotly as she quickly snapped her head upwards to face Zuko.

"I don't – I don't understand."

"It's always something with the state or Azula, there's never any time for me."

"I'm the Fire Lord, I have responsibilities. And I can't just leave Azula."

"But you can't even spare me the time to come and see me after your campaign. No, you went straight to Azula. I'm all alone in that empty palace, it's been like that for years… but no more. I'm not going to be alone anymore. I can't take anymore of this psychodrama that is your life."

"Mai, what are you talking about?" Zuko asked as he took a step towards her, but she took one back in response.

"I'm saying… I'm leaving you. It's over. You're not what I need. It's not working out," Mai said as she held herself tightly, taking another step backwards. "Am I being clear enough?"

"You – you can't be serious," Zuko said in shock. He made another attempt to close the gap between them, to hold her closely, but she brushed his hands away.

"I'm done waiting for you, Zuko. I'm leaving to find my own place in the world. And if you even care about me in the slightest anymore, you won't try to stop me," Mai said firmly, her voice cracking a little at the end. "Goodbye, Zuko, I really did love you." And with that she ran off.

"Mai! Wait! I'm sorry! Mai!" Zuko shouted after her. But he didn't make an effort to chase her. He knew she was right. He had neglected her for years, unfairly. He could try and justify it any way he wanted, but nothing was a good enough reason to abandon a loved one. He deserved to lose her. She deserved better than a messed up freak like him. He had always known, deep down, that his life had been messed up so badly, that he couldn't pursue a happy, stable relationship. And yet he had tried, and now he had failed miserably.

He sat down against a wall, cradling his head in his palms. The night had started out so well. He had returned triumphant from the civil war, and then he had finally reached out to Azula and made her open up. But now, his wife had left him, leaving almost all of his accomplishments empty. He thought of going to see Azula, to unburden himself on her, but decided against it. She had enough problems of her own, adding his could only send her to relapse back into madness.

He stayed in the prison's hallway throughout the night. It was dawn when he finally got up, and went to rule his kingdom, alone.


	14. Chapter 12: Fallout

Chapter 12: Fallout

Sokka yawned deeply as he stretched in the morning sun, at the doors of the palace. He had slept deeply and undisturbed for almost ten hours. Now it was time to start with his regular morning customs (or midday customs from other people's perspectives, but what did they know?). He looked around the yard, beginning to wonder what exactly was out of place. Usually, before his daily inspection, guards would be at their stations, like at the front doors, to salute him. Today, there was no one to salute him.

He walked out in to the courtyard, curious at the lack of people. Besides the guards usually stationed around the courtyard missing, there were no other people around either. As the administrative center of the entire Tribe, there were always people waiting to complain to those in charge. Today the entire yard was completely barren. Sokka gulped nervously.

Suddenly he heard voices coming from around one of the palace's corners (it wasn't a corner in the strict sense of the word, as corners are usually pointy, and it definitely wasn't pointy since the Southern Tribe's unique architecture style didn't allow sharp edges, just gently curving parts). He walked towards the sounds hesitantly, not sure of what to expect once he reached the "corner".

As he carefully looked around the bend, he found a surprisingly large amount of icy rubble on the ground. Several men were lifting the smaller pieces and carrying them away while a couple of waterbenders were disposing of the larger chunks. He looked up and noticed that one of the beautiful towers was missing a considerable piece from it. He stared gaping at for a few moments before his shocked mind started picking up a conversation.

"Don't know how we're gonna go about fixing this one," One of the waterbenders said disapprovingly as he gave the side of the building a quick look. "It was such a hassle putting this thing together in the first place. Remember? All those years ago?"

The other waterbender, a young woman, nodded knowingly. "I know. I came down here from the North to work on something great and meaningful, but after all the trouble it was building it the first time, I can't help but look at the thing with anything but loathing. Sure it looks nice and all, but it wasn't really worth all the trouble. Just a reflection of that Sokka guy's vanity. You know, I think he's just trying to compensate for something with all these long, thick, high towers he insisted on."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed indignantly as he ran to face his insulter. "It wasn't about that! Uh, not that there's a problem like that, but, you know, we needed to impress the other nations, by showing how big and awesome we are!"

The woman looked sideways at her companion, with a face that looked like she was sucking on a lemon. "_To show them how big and awesome we are…_ See, what did I just say about compensating?"

The man chuckled briefly. "C'mon, let's go and take a break, we've been working since dawn."

As the couple started to leave, Sokka leapt in front of them, arms spread and waving frantically to stop their departure. "Oi! Wait a sec! What happened here?"

The pair looked at each other, both raising a surprised eyebrow. The woman turned to Sokka and replied, "Cleaning up the mess a'course."

"I can see that, but what caused it?!" Sokka asked, exasperated by everyone's seemingly calm take on a massive portion of the palace missing.

"The mess was made by your new guest. I hear she's a real hothead."

* * *

Sokka sprinted down a hall, ducked under a servant's cart, jumped over a group of kids playing cards in a hallway, and finally barrelled his way into Katara's room.

"Katara! There's a huge chunk missing from the palace! What – oh, did I come at a bad moment?" Sokka asked as he noticed all the other people in the room. Katara was standing in the middle, along with a furious Zuko, both now staring at him with frightening intensity. Ty Lee was also there, but sitting in a corner along with another woman. Long, dark hair concealed her lowered face, but judging by the casual yet formal red clothing she was in, guessing her identity wasn't hard at all. It was Azula. She was fiddling with something in her hands, but Sokka couldn't quite make out what it was.

"Yes, Sokka, this isn't a very good time," Katara answered him with an exasperated air to her usually calm, collected voice.

"No, _last night_ wasn't a very good time!" Zuko exclaimed. "Apparently, someone tried to _kill_ my sister! I want to know who it was, why and if there's any more danger to her. I brought her here because I thought this place was safe!"

"It is," Katara insisted, "We just didn't expect –"

"Of course you didn't! Who could? That's why they're called assassinations. And from what I've been able to find out from my sister, the attempt on her life was made by someone from the Water Tribe. If she's going to face danger here, from your people, I should just take her and leave."

"Zuko, calm down. We can't even be sure if it was someone from the Tribe."

"Azula described him well enough. He wore your clothing and had one of those stupid wolf masks you have. I even went to check her room, and I found a Water Tribe knife."

"Someone could be trying to frame us."

"Why? It's not like I have any real political power anymore. I couldn't go to war with the Tribe for something like this even if I wanted to. This was a personal attack, and from your people. There's no way someone could have set this up in a couple of days if they were my dethroners. Just finding us would take weeks."

Katara sighed. "Maybe you're right, but I promise you, there isn't going to be any more danger to her, not from our people at least. We've made peace with your nation and forgiven old crimes."

"Apparently not all of you were at that particular town meeting where you agreed on it!"

"Zuko, please, calm down," Ty Lee said from the corner with a surprisingly authoritative tone. "All of your shouting is starting to upset Azula." She carefully patted Azula's shoulder as she whispered calmingly to her. Azula had started fidgeting more furiously with whatever she held in her hands, staring fixedly at whatever it was she found so interesting.

Zuko looked at his sister, noticeably settling down instantly. He walked to her, kneeling down in front of her as he took hold of her hands. "Calm down, Azula, I'm here, I'm here for you. I promise I won't leave you again," he whispered gently to her.

Azula's hands stopped moving. She sat there, motionless, until quietly, she asked him, "Promise?"

"I do," Zuko swore solemnly.

Azula sprung for him suddenly. The surprisingly fast movement from the previously motionless woman caused both Katara and Sokka to draw froth their personal weaponry of choice, a snake of water from a water pouch and a sword from a scabbard. They both halted however, when they noticed that Azula had merely wrapped her arms around Zuko in a loving embrace. Zuko was slightly taken aback himself, but quickly melted into the hug, holding her back.

The Water Tribe siblings gave each other a quizzical look before they turned to take another look at the Fire Nation siblings. Ty Lee sat next to them, smiling warmly at the show of affection between the pair. Sokka and Katara both decided that they had seemingly overreacted and replaced their respective weapons into their containers, although slowly and grudgingly. Could anyone really blame them?

Zuko released his sister from his embrace, making to stand up, but Azula was unwilling to let go.

"Azula, I need to get up," Zuko spoke to her softly.

Azula shook her head and said, "You promised."

"I'm not leaving you. I just have some business to finish with these people. Don't worry, they're friends," Zuko explained as he indicated towards Katara and Sokka, who both tried to smile weakly.

At this, Azula finally raised her head, with her golden eyes scanning the room and its occupants properly for the first time. Her searching eyes settled on Katara, and squinted slightly as a memory was triggered within the dark maze of her mind.

Azula stood up suddenly, raising her taloned hand as she summoned a batch of azure tinted flames. Sokka and Katara both made to reach for their weapons, but both lost in speed to Zuko and Ty Lee. Both of them had captured Azula's raised hand in an iron vice.

"Let go of me!" Azula shouted at them, a fiery glaze in her eyes, rivalling that of the blue flames that lighted them. "That's the peasant girl who tricked me, imprisoned me! Let go! I'm going to burn that face of hers right off!"

"Azula, stop! Please!" Ty Lee insisted from behind her. "Please don't make me cut off your bending."

"Azula look at me," Zuko commanded, causing a slight response from Azula. "Calm down. You've got nothing to prove, to me or anyone. It's just you; you have to decide to do the right thing, for your own sake, not for anyone else. Stop, for you own sake."

Azula stared back into her brother's eyes and found some sort of calming force in them. She closed her hand into a fist, snuffing out the flames. Zuko and Ty Lee released her hand, allowing it to drop limply to her side. She still held it in a fist, but seemed to have relaxed otherwise. Her shoulders slouched slightly and she looked away from Zuko. "Sorry, Zuzu," she muttered quietly, sounding truly remorseful.

"It's okay, Azula, it's okay," Zuko said soothingly as he brushed loose strands of hair from her face. "Your hair is all messed up. Why don't you go with Ty Lee and fix it up?"

Azula peered at her bangs, surprised to find them covering her eyes. "You're right, I'm a complete mess. Come, Ty Lee, to my royal chambers. I can't be the Fire Lord's sister and look like this. It's unbecoming of royalty."

"Sure Azula," Ty Lee said as she took Azula's hand and guided her out of the room. "How would you like it?"

"What do you think Zuzu would like?" Azula's voice drifted back into the room as she was lead into the hallways.

Katara and Sokka stared expressionlessly at her departure, before they relaxed, once again putting their weapons away. They turned to look at Zuko who stood in the middle of the room, looking quite isolated.

"I thought you said she'd gotten better?" Sokka asked Zuko.

Zuko responded with a cold stare, before he said, "She has."

"You call threatening to burn my sister's face off as a sign of a well adjusted person?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Trust me, it was a lot worse a few years back," Zuko responded, the earlier frustration beginning to creep back into his word. "She's improved by strides."

"_Whoopdidoo_, instead of eating our livers, she just wants to burn our faces off. Maybe you should have just kept her locked up."

"Shut up! How'd you like it if something happened to Katara? We had a difficult childhood, hell, she even tried to kill me later, but she's still family, and family sticks together. In spite of all the bad things we've been through, we've shared some great moments too. I remember, a long time ago, when we were on Ember Island; we had the best summer of our lives together. Laughing and playing in the surf. It's one of my earliest and dearest memories. You have no idea what it felt like, remembering all the things we'd done together, even after we'd sort of drifted apart before my banishment as my father took to raising her alone, when she came after me, wanting to kill me. It's not really her fault, all of this crap that tore us apart. She might have had a mean streak to her when she was younger, but it was my father's fault how it developed into this... this murderous, power hungry rage. Seeing her wasting away, locked up and alone… I just couldn't stand it. Everyone should have a chance to atone… like I did. I'd always been her older brother; my mom said it was my job to look after her. It's what big brothers do," Zuko said, trying to explain how he felt about his sister.

"Yeah, you're right," Sokka said, looking briefly at Katara. "Sorry about that earlier remark. I had no idea she meant that much to you," he said, still slightly in awe of what had been said. There had been real devotion and conviction in Zuko's words, a maturity few people ever reached in their lives.

Zuko looked down at the ground, noticing the thing Azula had been fiddling with. It was a dagger, one he knew very well. It was the one he had been given by his Uncle. He picked it up, unsheathed it and looked at the familiar inscription. He sheathed it with a snap, causing the remaining siblings to flinch, as they had now noticed as well what Azula had been preoccupied with. Both felt rather nervous about Azula again, even after the heartfelt speech Zuko had given. Zuko stowed the knife in a pocket, wondering how Azula had gotten a hold of it. She'd probably snuck into his room, when he'd been away, and kept it as a reminder of him. Still, he didn't feel all too well about Azula with sharp objects yet either, even if he felt she was getting better.

"Well, we'll be putting Azula into a safer room and doubling the guards, if that'll be ok," Katara said.

"No, I think I should stay with her. My room's big enough for us both, or if you want to, we can go to the room you suggested," Zuko said contemplatively.

"Oh, I think we can manage that. It's not really a problem," Katara said relatively uneasily. "Well if that's all, I think I should go check on the repairs."

She walked out of the room briskly. Sokka made to follow her out, but was stopped by Zuko's hand grabbing his shoulder. He peered back over it and asked worriedly, "What? No bad blood between us, right?"

"No, but I need to talk to you," Zuko said mysteriously.

"About what?" Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"About taking back the Fire Nation."


	15. Chapter 13: Clandestine

Chapter 13: Clandestine

Sokka snuck carefully along the shimmering corridors of the palace. It all felt so surreal, going behind the back of his sister and the council. He hadn't felt this excited since the final battle against Ozai. He passed dark doorways, creeping deeper into the heart of the ice palace. The ice was so thick and old down here, that it was a deep green. Occasional lanterns were needed down here even during the day, even though hardly anyone liked coming down here anymore, it just felt creeping. The rooms were mostly empty, unless used for long time storage. The thick green walls seemed to absorb all sound, stifling the sound of his footsteps, but filling the eerie silence with the occasional reverberating crackling noise. A waterbender was sent down there weekly to check on the condition of the supporting structures and make necessary repairs. They always re-emerged with a spooky silence about them, that only a warm drink could cure.

Finally he reached the end of the corridor. A large door stood ominously in front of him. Along with the impressive towers Sokka had requested, he had secretly asked Katara to make this room. And it definitely wasn't there to compensate for anything. He pushed the heavy creaking door open, cutting the dark interior in half with a weak light. He walked past crates of various equipments and necessities, until he reached the end of the long, dark room. There he found a tightly closed metal hatch attached to the iron hard green ice. He turned a valve, unlocking it.

He could hear the sound of rushing water deep inside the dark round hole behind the hatch. The hole was a perfectly smooth cylinder, slanting gently down into the abyss. Sokka took out a sealed container. It was one of his personal, ingenious inventions. It was watertight and could hold anything it contained in pristine condition, even at the same temperature as it was when placed inside it. He took one last longing look at it. He had never had a need to use it before, so he had spent vast amounts of time carving intricate pictures on it. Sure, _some people_ he knew didn't appreciate his unique drawing style, but he himself thought it was a stunning work of art. He really didn't want to drop it into the hidden river below, but he didn't have a choice, it was the fastest and most inconspicuous way to deliver his message.

He dropped it solemnly into the hole, hearing it tumble down into the hole big enough for a grown man to slide down until a small splash was heard. He closed the hatch, and locked it tightly. He then left the room, careful to close the door behind, as he made his silent way back upstairs into the almost equally silent, but not as creepy parts of the palace. He still had a meeting to get to before the night was over.

* * *

Zuko was standing on the top the largest tower of the palace. It had been hollowed out with four great openings on each side, allowing the wind to blow through forcefully past the many bird cages housing various messenger hawks. As Zuko pulled the warm coat around himself, he thought he could hear the sounds of footsteps coming from the stairwell at the middle of the round room. He looked at it expectantly before he remembered who was already accompanying him.

"Ty Lee! Get down from there!" Zuko tried to whisper loudly up into the rafters of the room where somewhere, in the shadows, Ty Lee was inspecting the hawks. Zuko had had to make it abundantly clear to her that she was not to wake the birds and cause guards to come to inspect the disturbance.

Ty Lee gracefully vaulted down, landing in a way with her hands stretched sideways, that clearly said "Ta-dah!" Her mouth was already opening to say what her slender body had clearly conveyed, but Zuko quickly shushed her. She pouted at him before she grabbed her discarded coat from the floor and draped it around her shoulders. She made to go to the stairwell, to welcome the new arrivals, but just as she was once again about to speak, Zuko stopped her, this time placing his hand over her mouth. He pulled her, rather forcefully, behind a large pile of bags containing, most likely, bird feed.

"What part of be silent or we'll be caught don't you understand? We have no idea who's coming up those stairs. Now will you promise to be quiet?" Zuko hissed at her.

Zuko lifted his hand from her mouth. She puffed her cheeks in indignation, but said nothing.

"Good," Zuko muttered.

The pair knelt down behind the bags, waiting for the new arrival to show their face. Ty Lee's head kept creeping out from behind the bags to peer, which Zuko had to pull back constantly, to avoid the risk of detection. This was exactly why he hated it when Ty Lee snuck along with him on covert operations.

Soon the sounds of a familiar sounding bickering were heard.

"What part of be quiet or we'll be caught don't you understand?" Sokka's voice came loudly from the stairs.

"Says the guy who's almost shouting!" Toph exclaimed, even louder.

"I mean it! If you're not quiet we'll be caught!" Sokka hissed back her, not noticing that his own volume had risen in response to Toph.

The pair reached the level where the birds were kept. Ty Lee jumped out from behind the pile of bags, and said loudly, "Hiya, guys! What took you so long? We've been here for like a half hour already!"

Zuko let out an annoyed sigh. Hadn't any of these people ever had to sneak around in their lives?

"Okay, since subtlety's been thrown out the window, let's just get this over with as fast as possible," Zuko said, emerging from behind the sacks as well.

Sokka raised an eyebrow at his appearance. "What were you guys doing behind there… for half hour?"

"Oh, Zuko just forcefully pulled me behind there and had his merry way with me," Ty Lee answered with a broad smile on her face as she looked slyly sideways at Zuko. "I tried to resist, but what woman could in the presence of the great and mighty Zuko?"

Everyone else gave her a bewildered look, but none beating Zuko's. Ty Lee turned her head, giving each of them a critical look. Her smile slowly disappeared as she looked at the three shocked faces. "Geez, can't you guys take a joke?"

"I've said this before and I'll probably say it again, but with you, we will probably never be certain of anything," Sokka answered her, before turning to Zuko. "So, what exactly is our next move?"

"Did you do what we discussed earlier?" Zuko asked him.

"Yeah, message is on its way," Sokka replied.

"What message?" both of the women asked in unison.

"You don't need to know yet, besides, we've got more important things to decide before we go any further," Zuko told them.

Neither of them was happy by this answer, with Toph crossing her arms and beginning to tap a foot while Ty Lee also crossed her arms, but bit her lip as she glowered at him. They might not have liked his answer, but they knew not to question him at what seemed like a critical junction in the plan, even though they took the chance to visually show their frustration. It was kind of weird how the two women were starting to resemble each other in their words and actions, becoming so in sync with each other, but that was hopefully only a problem for the future.

"Well? What are we gonna do?" Toph asked impatiently.

"We're going to take the Fire Nation back, by any means necessary," Zuko said forebodingly. He gave the assembly a stern look. Each of them met his gaze stolidly. "So we're all agreed? We'll be going out behind everyone's backs, to take out some dangerous people. Can I trust you guys to keep your mouths shut and help me?"

The three nodded silently, but after a moment Sokka asked, "Are we sure that there isn't an alternative. I know I don't think so, but what if Katara's right? The situation isn't the same as it was before. I don't know exactly what we're going to do, but I'd like to avoid any heavy fighting and losses… on both sides."

Zuko stood silently, thinking it over. He remembered the previous failed rebellion, how the country had split in two. He had tried to talk with the rebels, but his peace talks had failed miserably. Many people had once again lost their lives in a pointless struggle. He remembered Fu Bai and the cold, determined look in her eyes as she had explained the reasons for this new rebellion. They were similar to the ones he had heard before, but sounded like they were better justified. Given enough time, after all the loss and humiliation the Fire Nation had endured in the previous decade, his people would lash out in anger and fear like a cornered animal. He saw no way of stopping another war if it started. His only option was to stop it before it even started.

"That's why it'll only be a small force incursion. We'll infiltrate the capital, or wherever the new head of operations is and take out the leaders. Cut off the head of the serpent, like my Uncle used to say… except not exactly in those words, but that was the point he was making. It was something about drinking the tea before it cooled or something…" Zuko's thoughts drifted away with the breeze blowing though the cavernous room.

"Ok, but exactly how?" Toph asked. "As nostalgia guy said before he reverted to daydreaming of his glory days with Iroh, we don't even know where they are. And how are we gonna get to 'em once we find out where they are?"

"Both of those things are being taken care of," Sokka answered.

"By that secret message of yours?" Ty Lee asked coyly, sneaking up next to him to play with his wolftail.

Sokka gulped nervously, before he gave her a look. A look that said no, not now, maybe never. Unfortunately for him, Ty Lee didn't take hints, unless it came from a certain princess. Direct, loud shouting usually worked on her, but this was neither the place nor the time for such explicit communication.

"Yes, that's exactly what's happening," Sokka said as he sidled away from Ty Lee and accidentally bumped into Toph. He almost knocked her over, but grabbed her just in time before she fell. She'd been like this the whole time she was at the Pole, probably because here her seismic senses weren't functioning properly in the land of water and ice.

"Hey, no need to get frisky. I might be cold, but I'm not that desperate for warming," Toph said as Sokka quickly released her, noticing how he'd caught her in an awkward embrace.

"Sorry," Sokka said, backing away and bumping into Zuko this time. Zuko only sighed as he rubbed his temple in annoyance.

"Why don't the three of you just get a room? In fact, I'm serious. I've told you pretty much everything you need to know until we learn of our targets whereabouts and Sokka manages to get us transportation that'll ensure secrecy. We can't use the balloon anymore, by now the county will be in total naval and aerial lockdown according to the proper procedures in times of war," Zuko said, starting his way past the group towards the staircase.

However, Ty Lee jumped in front of him and delivered a quick kiss on his cheek. Zuko stopped in midstride, shocked by the wet feeling on his cheek. He, along with Sokka, stared at her (Toph stared blankly ahead; unaware of what had just happened, wondering what that weird little smack she'd heard had been).

"Aww. Don't be jealous Zuzu. If you want, you can join us as well!" Ty Lee exclaimed with another broad smile.

She looked around at the quizzical looks she was once again given. Her smile drooped sadly. "Jeez, can't you guys take a joke? Seriously!"

Zuko gave her another weird look before he continued his way to the stairs and then down the spiralling stairwell. He reached up to his cheek, wiping the wetness from his cheek as it turned cold in the cool air. Even after that, the warm imprint of the lips still lingered on his cheek.

"Uhm, you two do realize he wasn't _actually_ serious about that room part, right?" Sokka asked nervously.

The two women smiled wickedly at him.


	16. Chapter 14: Killing Time

Author's notes: This chapter will focus more on the characters and their relationships, giving the plot some time to rest. I for one like these occasional chapters where we focus on the characters, it makes them more human and interesting, and you really start caring for the fates of the characters. And I couldn't help but go "aaaahh" in a loving voice at the way the scene with Azula and Ty Lee ended; too bad there really won't be any more scenes like that that for Azula, at least, not in the foreseeable future. And sorry OneLung, but we won't be seeing what exactly happened between Sokka and the girls. I prefer to leave things of that nature concerning what happened (or didn't), up to the imagination and interpretation of the reader (although I did decide to throw in a line or two about it after your review). I think it's more pleasing for everyone to imagine their own course of actions for such events (believe me, I certainly will... mmm, nice, very nice indeed... curse you, Sokka! You, lucky dog, you!) Oh, and shorry if you're not a fan of shlurring talk like thish... I thought it might be funnier, but ya neva know, do ya? ~ hic!

* * *

Chapter 14: Killing Time

As Ty Lee did cartwheels on top of an ice wall, Azula gazed placidly at the spinning figure from a bench in what resembled a garden (minus all the things that make gardens actually gardens, like plants, and instead replacing it with snow and the occasional ice sculpture). Her eyes followed Ty Lee's movements loyally, even when she did more complex gymnastics; jumping, spinning, twirling and things most people lacked in vocabulary to describe with her body. All of these dangerous manoeuvres were made more impressive by the fact that she was doing it all on a slippery, thin ice wall.

This sense of danger for Ty Lee made Azula smirk. She pictured Ty Lee slipping and breaking a leg, and her smile only widened. Then suddenly the smile vanished, as other pictures entered her mind. There was Zuko, holding her gently; Ty Lee, gently brushing her hair with a brush as she imparted gossip to her. A single tear ran down Azula's face, as a deep feeling of shame for imagining her friend in pain and enjoying it emerged from those fond memories.

Azula looked away from the twirling woman on the wall, shamed of her own mind and thoughts. _I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster,_ she repeated to herself inside her head. But even so, older memories of torture and pain emerged. She'd always been in pain, and the only thing that had ever truly relieved her from it had come from inflicting it on others. Watching them squirm, shriek, yell and cry… oh how she had loved seeing such great depths of human emotion in others, when she herself had remained void of them, knowing that she had caused it. It had been _so exciting_!

But she wasn't that person anymore. She had Zuko and he loved her, loved her deeply. She couldn't risk losing his love to satisfy such urges. She had to be strong, not just for herself, but for his sake. She couldn't bear to even imagine the disappointment in his face if she ever reverted back to her old self.

She held her head tightly, muttering her mantra out loud now, trying to force her mind and body to listen. Between her pointed boots, in a patch of ice, she saw her own face reflected back at her. It looked just like her, but it wasn't hers. There was her hair, grown long in the passing years behind her face. Some of it had been gathered from the sides to form a small ponytail behind her head, just above her long, dark strands in the back, swaying gently in the wind. Her long bangs had been arranged like they had been for most of her life, swinging in the wind as well as they hung down around her face. She hoped Zuko would like it. But those eyes and that smirk, reflected back at her weren't her own. They were somehow distorted, speaking of something sinister within her.

She quickly used her feet to cover the patch of ice with snow as she kept frantically chanting to herself. When the terrifying image was gone, she started rocking back and forth on her bench. A paralyzing fear was starting to numb her mind. Even with the snow covering the reflection, Azula knew that her evil side was just under the surface, waiting for the moment to emerge, greater and stronger than ever before… like the mighty Phoenix, as a King soaring above weaker mortals.

A hand touched her shoulder gently, snapping her shocked mind back into the present. Azula almost lifted her fist to strike the aggressor with a blast of fire, but noticed that it was only Ty Lee just in time.

"Hey, you okay, Azula? I heard you muttering to yourself… everything okay?" Ty Lee asked her gently with a soft smile on her face. She looked at Azula critically; her eyes were red and swollen by the tears streaking down her cheeks, with deep shadows under them as proof of her irregular sleeping patterns. Azula would regularly wake up in the night screaming about burnt faces, daggers flying at her and burned and bloody corpses. It had taken both Zuko and Ty Lee together to calm her down the last time it had happened.

"I'm not a monster," Azula said sadly.

"Of course you're not, silly. You're Azula, prettiest princess in the kingdom and most importantly…" Ty Lee spoke to her like a child, but let the end of her sentence trail away, for dramatic emphasis.

"What?" Azula asked desperately, both dreading and yearning for the rest.

"My friend," Ty Lee said warmly.

Azula's face contorted for a moment, until she found the right muscles, and smiled. She stood up and grabbed Ty Lee, hugging her fiercely. "Thank you, thank you, thank you… I love you so much Ty, you know that right? You and Zuko mean the world to me."

"Yeah, Azula, we know. And we wouldn't have it any other way," Ty Lee answered her as she returned the hug, holding her friend dearly.

* * *

Katara smiled as she watched her kids playing together with other children from the village. It was good to know there was still something truly pure and decent in the world, something that hadn't been touched by the war and violence. She would do anything she could to make sure that her children and many like them would never have to witness the horrors of war and violence. It wasn't just about trying to live a better life; it was about the future now, more than ever.

"Hey mom! Tell us about Aang!"

Katara turned her eyes from the sky she had been staring at whilst her mind had wandered, to the brown-haired boy, staring anxiously at his mother. It was nice to know that he wanted to hear about his father, but the fact that he was referred to as simply Aang was worrying, although sadly understandable.

"The other kids don't believe me when I say he could make tornadoes, waves and earthquakes – just like that! Whoosh, kablow, badoom!" the young boy waved his arms as he provided his own sound effects, trying to imitate the movements of benders he would watch practicing for hours.

All the other children had gathered around his display and Katara, half of their eyes shining in awe and respect at the description of the Avatar, while a significant remainder stared disapprovingly, unwilling to accept such grand and boisterous stories.

Katara held her hand to her mouth as she giggled at her son's displays. His arms quickly sagged as he noticed this and asked worriedly, "Why are you laughing? He could do that right? That's how he beat the bad guys… right?"

"I'm sorry," Katara said, catching her breath, "Your father, like all the Avatars before him, was a master of all the elements. He could indeed do all those things, simultaneously and with greater power in the Avatar state. But that's not what made him truly great."

"Huh? What are you talking about? What could be greater than being the greatest bender with all that power to kick butt?" a boy hidden behind the mass of other children in front of him shouted from the back.

Katara smiled. "How he chose not to use that power."

The children all stared at each other, collectively scratching their heads.

"Huh?" they chanted as one.

Katara smiled warmly again. "Maybe you'll understand some day. Now hurry along and get back to playing, supper time is fast approaching, and I hate it when you complain your games aren't finished when supper arrives. You should all take a leaf out of Sokka's book; he always comes running when food is served."

The children laughed heartily, all picturing Sokka running through halls just to stuff his funny face. They then dispersed and continued playing their wonderfully imaginative games.

Maybe someday, _everyone_ will realize that it takes far greater control and willpower not to resort to violence, Katara mused silently as she watched the children play.

* * *

Toph, Sokka and Zuko were in a tavern. The three sat at the bar, on high stools, all looking rather solemn as they stared ahead at the various bottles on the shelf opposite of them. The rest of the bar was empty, except for the bartender, who stood as far away from his only three clients as the confines of his little area behind the bar would allow. He had a hard time deciding how he felt about his only clients, as they had driven out all his other customers (for reasons that will quickly become apparent), but who had more than made up for the losses by themselves.

Suddenly, the three of them all burst out in laughter at the same time.

"Damn it! Almost had it!" Sokka said amidst gasping for air and random spontaneous bursts of laughter.

"Keep dreaming!" Toph yelled back, smacking him on the back with the spirit of comradeship.

"How long did we make it this time?" Zuko asked, wiping a tear of laughter from his good eye.

"I dunno, barely a minute, I think," Sokka said.

"Heh, so, why did you insist on us going to exactly this particular bar anyway?" Toph asked before she drained her glass.

"Don't tell Katara, but this place has a special drink, thanks to me. We call it the cactus juice surprise," Sokka answered conspiratorially.

"You didn't!" Toph exclaimed, barely able to contain her joy. Years ago, Sokka had confided in her about his first taste of cactus juice. It had seemed extremely funny.

"I did!" Sokka shot right back at her.

"Did what?" Zuko asked, not having a clue about the previous experimentations.

"He brought some of that crazy cactus juice from the desert. It makes ya crazy, like the description implies," Toph said, licking her lips in anticipation.

"Oi! Barkeep! Three specials!" Sokka shouted as he waved a half empty glass, spilling some dark liquid on the bar.

The barkeep stared disapprovingly at the mess, but nodded before he went through a back door to fetch the necessary ingredients and prepare them.

"Of course, it's a bit diluted, since it's so expensive to get all the way here, but it still gives a nice kick to the membranes," Sokka said with fond memories.

The three waited in silence, well mostly silence, as the occasional giggle escaped from each one of them. Then the barkeep emerged with a large flagon and three fresh glasses on a tray.

"Ah, brought us a jug full of the stuff. That's why I like this guy, always thinking ahead, for the benefit of the customer. Who's gonna get an extra fat tip? You are, yes you are, you-ho-hoo," Sokka blathered as he pointed excitedly at the barkeep. He merely rolled his eyes as he delivered their order and briskly walked off, knowing that it would all be worth it in the long run.

"Yarrr, drink up me mateys!" Sokka said as he poured everyone a glass.

Toph stared hungrily at the green liquid, shimmering in the light, while Zuko carefully sniffed his. Sokka held his high, as he beamed at his two friends.

"Who knows when we'll get another chance like this, to drink and just enjoy each other's company, allowing the worries of the world to melt away for one fantastic, memorable moment? Drink my friends, for tonight, there is no war, no missing loved ones; just three friends, living in the moment enjoying all the great things life has to offer, and I'm not just talking about the drinks, hih," Sokka said merrily, toasting his fellows' glasses.

"Hear hear!" Toph said, joining in.

"Nicely said," Zuko said as he too raised his glass.

"Bottoms up!" the three chanted as they doused the fires within their throats.

Several hours and flagons later, Toph was lying on the ground, hiccupping as she gently rubbed her belly. Both Sokka and Zuko were gently swaying on their stools, trying to fight the never ending fight with gravity from a new perspective.

"Isssh funny, dat, I thoughts she coulda handled a lot more'n that," Sokka slurred contemplatively.

"Look at her shpot again, she drank like – how much was pointer finger plush the middle one? – ah, yesh, like twice what we dranks," Zuko said, pointing at the many empty glasses with one hand as he tried to do calculus on the other. It made his head hurt so he stopped trying.

"Well, you gotta takes thingsh shlowly in life," Sokka slurred sagely. "Tha's what me an' Shuki be doing. No fasht bushiness for us. We takes thingsh shlow… she busy over thar in Earth Kingdom. Doing her thang, training new warriosh an' helping with tha gov-ern-mentoring."

Zuko gave his sombre companion a blurry-eyed look. "You don't shound too happy 'bout that," he remarked.

"Well, we've been together for, like – what? – thirteen yearsh? But we're both sho busy with our own countries an living so far away… well it'sh not exactly easy, keeping in touch, if ye know what I mean?" Sokka chuckled slightly at his little joke.

"Heh, yeah well, you don't wanna take it too fast, a'fore you can be sure you'll always be there for her, at her shide," Zuko said broodingly.

Sokka's face scrunched up as he contemplated on these words. The he squinted at Zuko, suspicion creeping into his eyes as he tried to focus them on Zuko in vain. "You shtay away from mah Shuki, ya hear? Dun trust you with her… ~hic!~ "

"Huh? Ah, don't worry. I washn't talking 'bout her… wash talking about… Mai… missh her… wanna shay shorry properly…" Zuko muttered glumly.

Sokka stared at Zuko again, trying to think of something comforting to say, or at least something funny that would break the ice that was starting to form between them. But all he could muster was a lame, "Shucks to be you."

"Yeah, all my fault… like Fire Nation and war and Aang… shoulda known better, shoulda been better friend, leader, hush-band" Zuko mumbled as he emptied his glass.

"Not too late to fix thingsh," Sokka tried to help. "I think I've got idea how to invade Fire Nation… kinda ashamed of it myshelf… it'sh not very original, we'll do it like we done it during Black Shun. Shince we can't go through or over, we go under…"

Zuko nodded grimly, not really paying attention as his mind wandered, trying to remember how he'd gotten to this moment in his life. He didn't like most of what he saw, even though there were exceptions.

Sokka stared sadly at Zuko, unable to think of anything else to say to comfort his friend, until he remembered something from a distant past. "Hey, like showrds too, right?" he asked.

"I guessh… had twin broadswordsh once, liked them. Something nice about the grip of cool, solid metal in your hand. Feelsh reassuring shomehow," Zuko answered.

"Hey, we should shpar together, in the morning! I can get you swordsh!" Sokka exclaimed, only to receive a dirty look from Zuko. "Okay, not too early, but it'sh besht to sweat all this shtuff out ash fast as possible, trusht me."

"Shure, just let me go an –" Zuko said, before he fell off his stool.

"Ha!" Sokka yelled triumphantly, only to fall down on his head. "Ouch…"

"Ha right back at ya," Zuko said from under his stool.

"Oh, by teh way, what happened to you guysh after I left lasht night?" Zuko asked, trying to get up off the floor as pink lemurs started dancing around him.

"Gah… Let'sh not talk 'bout that… mah head hurtsh enough ash is… ugh, them girls crazier than Momo in heat… are ya seeing what I'mmah sheeing?" Sokka asked, scrutinizing his own hallucinations.

"Probably not… ~hic!~"

"Iz all good, iz all good," Toph muttered as she joined the conversation, swishing her head from side to side; it felt like her brain was sloshing around inside it. "What were you two talking 'bout up thar?"

"Jus' girls, life an' other shtuff that'sh neva made shense to any of ush," Sokka muttered, rubbing his sore head.

"Can't live with them, can't live without'em, ha?" Toph smirked.

"Yeah, shomething like that…" Zuko muttered as he tried to get up on his elbows, but failed miserably, causing all three of the gathered friends to burst into laughter on the floor.

When the laughs died away, after several minutes, Toph asked, "How're we gonna get outta here?"

"We don't. Barkeep takesh care a' that," Sokka said with a faint smile. "Get ready, it'sh coming…"

"What?" Both Zuko and Toph asked.

"He's a low level waterbender, ya know," Sokka explained.

"Oh," Zuko and Toph said in unison, neither understanding what that meant.

Cold realization set in as a gentle wave of flooding water cleared the bar of the mess that had been made of it and those who had made it. The three friends drifted along through a door and onto the cold streets.

"Don't worry, the cold will soon set you right," the bartender said, wiping his hands together, before he closed the door on his final customers.

"Ain't he a hoot?" Sokka asked, still lying on the ground.

"Shure…" Zuko and Toph muttered, already feeling the freezing cold of the polar night driving the warm, happy thoughts out of their head as cold reality set in as self-preservation, in the form of not wanting to freeze to death in the cold while being wet.

The two of them wobbled up uneasily, looking angrily at Sokka, who had lost consciousness.

"Would anyone really care if he was never sheen or heard from again," Toph mumbled contemplatively, trying to think of an alternative to carrying the fool.

"Who knows… we definitely won't shince we'll be taking him along," Zuko said sadly, feeling the loss of his happy thoughts dearly.

Toph sighed. "He alwaysh wimpsh out ash the fun really shtartsh…"

"Uh, I don't even wanna know what ya mean by that… beshidesh I don't know where you shee the fun in any of this anymore."

"Hey, you gotta admit, thish wash a hell of a way to kill shome time," Toph said with a smirk. "~hic!~"


	17. Chapter 15: Ready to Go?

Chapter 15: Ready to Go?

Metal clanged as blades came together in a courtyard swept clean of snow. The two fighters pushed forward, with the blades screeching together dangerously until they were face to face. Their eyes met briefly, both showing mocking antagonism in them, before a kick from one of them broke them apart.

"Hey! I thought we were just testing our sword skills together," Zuko asked, annoyed slightly that he hadn't seen such an obvious attack coming, as he rolled to his feet on the cold ground.

"The body of a swordsman is just as much the weapon as the sword," Sokka said, grinning widely.

"Fine, if you want to play it that way," Zuko said as he lunged for Sokka, aiming low with a mighty swing.

As their swords once again almost met, Zuko's suddenly swerved down, stabbing the ground. Sokka, mislead by the earlier swing, was bringing his own sword down to block the blow, was shocked to find a pointed boot in his chest as Zuko used his sword as a handstand to maximise his kick's power.

Sokka flew across the courtyard, rolling into a bundled heap. He quickly got back up, ignoring the disgruntled shouts from the bundles. Toph pushed away the top of the heap, with an angry look on her face.

"Can't a gal get some sleep around here? Hey, are you even listening to me? Don't make me come over there and settle that duel between you two. I will if you don't – ah, forget it, I'm going back to sleep," She muttered to herself as she erected stone walls around her sleeping place, engulfing her in darkness and blissful, muffled quietness.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Sokka said as he blocked a blow. "You know, I haven't had anyone good enough to spar with for years, so don't be surprised if I'm a bit rusty."

"Looking for an excuse for your loss already? My, how the mighty have fallen," Zuko smirked as he delivered a shower of fast thrusts.

"Ah, you're starting to get the picture, using your whole body, even that big mouth of yours against me. But seriously, don't you think using your ugly face in the fight to try and scare me was a bit excessive," Sokka said in good humour, sweeping at Zuko's legs.

"Ha, as the more girly type, you should've realized looks aren't everything," replied Zuko, jumping into the air as he brought his sword down with deadly force.

"Girly?" Sokka asked, rolling away with another low swipe at the end.

"Do I even need to start listing the reasons? Ty Lee has loose lips, Sokka, she told me a long time ago, about how you became the first honorary Kyoshi warrior, with full battle dress, and of course, there's the ponytail," Zuko said, finally scoring a hit, not a physical one, but one of the verbal kind.

"What?! For the last time, it's a wolftail, not a ponytail! Only Water Tribe warriors wear them! Besides, what about your hair when we first met, that was just ridiculous. Even the Earth King's bear had a better sense for fashion," Sokka answered, thrusting deeply.

"Oh yeah, well at least I made it look good, unlike you." Zuko took a cautious, unsteady step back to avoid the thrust.

"Maybe, but I make _this_ look good," Sokka said as he came out of the lunge, striking Zuko's sword out of his hand. Sokka brought his blade to Zuko's throat, while he raised his other hand up into the air expectantly. Zuko's sword spun around in the air, until it descended and landed into Sokka's hand.

Unfortunately, it was the blade that Sokka caught in his hand, and not the handle. He let out a yelp as he dropped both swords, grasping at his injured palm.

"Sokka!" Zuko shouted in shock.

Sokka held his palm, doubling over in pain. Zuko stood looking at him, frozen in place like one of the many ice statues overlooking the yard.

"Heh, that didn't look as good as I had hoped. I guess I still need some practice," Sokka smirked grimly, as he stood up straight.

Zuko gave a weak chuckle. "Um, yeah I guess. We should probably go and see Katara."

"Ah, it's just a flesh wound. I'll be okay. When training with swords, it's to be expected, but you probably already know that," Sokka said, trying to calm Zuko down as he gently rubbed his palm. "Good thing I didn't try to swallow it, eh?"

"Enough with the jokes, already. I get it, you're okay, but you should still go to Katara," Zuko said, placing a hand on Sokka's shoulder, to gently guide him to Katara.

"Man, you're almost as bad as she is. Look, I'll just wrap it up, and we can continue, it's already starting to close up. Don't worry, this is just the handicap you needed," Sokka said stubbornly, still wanting to prove something to Zuko.

Zuko's reply was interrupted however, as a lookout in one of the many spires of the palace shouted out: "Airbender, ho!" [Author's quick note: No, not ho as in the slang word for you know what, but ho, as in "Land, ho!". Don't be so juvenile.]

"Airbender?" Zuko asked, surprised deeply. Was it Aang, returning from his secret spirit mission after all these years in their time of need? It seemed too good to be true.

And it was.

As Zuko and Sokka reached the familiar platform for aerial visitors, dragging a disgruntled and still drowsy Toph behind them, they saw the red air glider land. It spun swiftly, but elegantly as it folded into the more indoor friendly staff. The person holding it however, was most definitely, not Aang, not even of the same sex. The airbender was a tall girl, in her late teens. She wore the traditional shades of yellow and orange, as loose pants with knee deep cloth around them and a shirt with wide open sleeves, giving the impression of having wings as she gently twirled around while inspecting the gathered people. She had shaved her forehead, with her long hair hanging behind her, tied together near the tips, but it was lacking the all too familiar blue arrow.

She looked around hesitantly at the gathered guards and other service people who had gathered to see her. When she noticed Sokka, she urgently strode to him. She bowed politely, and presented a scroll to him.

"A message from the First Three, all children of the White Lotus," The airbender said officially.

"Whoah whoah! Careful with the flower talk," Sokka said as he nervously peered around. "I know it must be different over there at the temple, but over here, we have to be more discreet with our secrets."

The airbender's eyes opened wide in shock, as a blush spread over her young, smooth face. She gulped loudly, and bowed her head down immediately. "Apologies, Brother, it was not my intention to lead our Order to danger."

"Shush!" Sokka hissed, twisting his head around, trying to make sure no one had heard anything they shouldn't have.

"Wait, is she in the Order, too?" Zuko asked Sokka.

"Gah! Stop it! I will never understand how the likes of you two ever got into the Order, with your loose lips," Sokka said, breaking into a sweat.

"Huh? _She's_ in the White Lotus? Seriously, why wasn't I invited to join?" Toph asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Damn it! We're going inside. Now!" Sokka stomped off the platform.

Zuko and Toph made to follow him, but stopped and turned around when the young airbender didn't follow. She stared at her feet, biting her lower lip.

"C'mon, you're invited as well," Toph told her, causing the girl to flinch slightly. "Don't worry about him and his silly little club. He's like this all the time. What's your name, by the way?"

"Hefeng," the girl answered politely, bowing once again.

"Right, well, that was Sokka, the high-strung goofball who just stomped away. I'm Toph Bei Fong and this big fella's Zuko, dethroned Fire Lord," Toph said, while pointing leisurely at Zuko with her thumb.

Zuko gave her a nasty look, but all she did was shrug and ask, "Too soon?"

Hefeng's face on the other hand lit up like a lantern. Her eyes were like saucers. She bowed deeply to Zuko. "The great Zuko? I am honoured by your presence; Master Aang always spoke very highly of you."

Zuko's stomach lurched uneasily at the mention of Aang. He looked at her sadly, before he turned away guiltily and made his way after Sokka, who was now impatiently waiting at a massive pair of doors, hands crossed while he tapped his foot.

"Oh no, I've insulted another Brother," Hefeng said sadly as her head drooped.

"Ah, don't worry, he's just going through his little guilt trip: losing his throne and country recently, while he only just heard about Aang's disappearance a while ago. Not your fault, kid," Toph said reassuringly as she went over and punched the girl in the shoulder.

Hefeng rubbed at it but kept quiet, still embarrassed by her introduction. She'd spent the entire flight planning it, wanting to impress the Water Tribe as the new Air Nomads' first ambassadorial visitor. It had all gone wrong with her first words.

"C'mon lets go already," Toph said as she pulled the girl along gently behind her.

* * *

"So, wait, what you're telling me is that there are only three – _three_ – airbenders in the whole world?" Zuko asked, eager for more, yet not necessarily approving of the new information.

The four of them had gathered in Ty Lee's room, next to Zuko's, where Azula was napping peacefully for once. Ty Lee had immediately remodelled the bare room. It was filled with large pillows and drapes of every colour. How she had managed to get these decorations was anyone's guess.

"And five bright hopefuls we're teaching. Unfortunately only two of them have shown any kind of aptitude for airbending, but they are still young, and we shall remain hopeful," Hefeng tried to inform modestly, but there was a definite proud edge to her voice. She was standing in the middle of the room, with four pairs of inquisitive eyes staring at her from various locations around the room.

"And the three of you were Aang's students? And now you're teaching new airbenders? _And_ the three of you are all in the Order of the White Lotus?" Zuko asked, hungry for confirmation of the new knowledge he had discovered.

"Yes, he found my fellow Brother and Sister, while originally Guru Pathik discovered me, showing me the ways of the Air Nomads, sensing great promise in me. Yes, we have taken new students, to spread the teachings of Aang, the Last Airbender. And yes, it seemed prudent that the leaders of the new Air Nomads should be part of the Order. Brother Sokka was the one to suggest it," Hefeng answered dutifully.

"Seriously, why aren't I in the Order?" Toph asked, starting to feel rather peeved. "I only found out Zuko's in it a couple of days ago, and today I found out that Sokka's in it too with all the new first generation Air Nomads. When did _that _happen? Who's next, Ty Lee?"

"Oh, Zuko let me know about that ages ago. I could probably have joined, but thought my friends in the Kyoshi Warriors wouldn't approve of it. We're all for, for solidity?" Ty Lee asked uncertainly with a lopsided glance around the room.

"Solidarity," Zuko aided her, used to such lapses in Ty Lee's vocabulary by now.

"Thanks, Zuzu," Ty Lee said with a big smile at him.

"Don't call me that," Zuko said, eager to move on with business. "So you have the information we need?"

"Yes. Your message arrived at the hidden southern base of operations for the Order, very close to our temple. Information gathering began immediately. Within a couple of days, the Order had discovered the information you had requested for," Hefeng answered.

"How? How does your Order have such impressive information gathering skills?" Toph asked.

"We have many members across the world, in all levels of society. Wisdom, Beauty and Truth are not to be denied from any individual, no matter what country or social class they belong to. In fact, that is most likely the reason for our society's vast amounts of information. We shun no source of knowledge, as long as it adheres to logic, is supported by evidence, sound in reasoning or worth contemplation. We use the fastest messenger hawks and the safest code, with mundane phrases to cover deeper messages. Once the information had been gathered, it was handed to our Brotherhood. We, The Three, all members of the Order, had the sacred duty of delivering the message to you as fast as possible. I was chosen to do so, as my Brother and Sister remained to teach and protect the younglings," Hefeng once again answered with all the details she could remember, an obvious sign that she'd been cooked up teaching for too long.

The group was struck silent by the mass of information for a moment as they tried to absorb all of it.

"So, what do you have for us?" Ty Lee asked kindly, as she had been the first to abandon the attempt at absorbing all the information.

"The leaders of the Fire Nation's new regime are all gathering in a floating naval base. It would appear that most of the navy and aerial forces are gathering there," Hefeng said with a curt bow of her head. "It does not bode well for us," she added uncertainly.

"Yeah, that's why we'll be heading there with a small elite force, to take out the leaders," Zuko said with a steely gaze at Hefeng. "We could really use your help too."

Hefeng was shocked by this information, but the shock soon changed to a sorrowful look. "I take it the peace talks have been ineffectual."

Sokka gave Zuko a sideways look, which he met briefly before turning back to face Hefeng. "Uhm, yeah," Zuko lied.

"Yeah, they're not listening to reason," Sokka added to it, still giving Zuko the occasional sideways glance.

"How sad… but if this is what must be done to prevent another war and save many lives, I suppose it is my duty to aid you in the capture and detainment of these so called leaders. Though Aang taught us that violence is never the answer, sometimes it is unavoidable. I shall come with you if you deem it necessary," Hefeng said melancholically.

"We could really use an airbender. You know, have as many elements on our side as possible," Sokka said, staring at the floor as he pondered on the new developments.

"Are the other preparations ready?" Zuko asked Sokka grimly.

"Yeah, a small submarine with a couple of waterbenders I trust will help us," he answered, still staring at the floor. "We can leave tomorrow."

"Good. Okay everybody, this is it. We're going to stop the war by taking out those leaders. So, get ready and get a good night's sleep. There's no telling what we'll run into out there," Zuko told the group, with his determined gaze giving each of the gathered people a critical look. "Toph or Ty Lee, will you get Hefeng up to speed with our plans while Sokka and I go over the finer details of the message brought to us and finalize our attack plan."

"Sure," Toph said, getting up from a cushy pillow.

"We can do it together!" Ty Lee clapped her hands together joyfully. "C'mon, we can make it a girl's night out while we're at it!"

"Fine, do what you want, but don't stay out too late, busy day tomorrow," Zuko told them as the three women walked out. "And no cactus juice surprises!" he shouted after them.

Zuko turned around to face Sokka, who was still continuing to stare down, but now it was at his bandaged hand. The bandages had turned red, in the brief time his palm had continued bleeding. Sokka closed his fist, gritting his teeth as the pain spread through his hand.

"Sokka?" Zuko asked worriedly. "I knew I should have taken you to Katara."

"No it's not that… well kinda. I don't want her to know about this… blood on my hands… Are you sure we're doing the right thing here?" Sokka asked, finally raising his gaze to meet Zuko's eyes.

"Of course we are. We're going to stop a war, saving thousands of lives," Zuko answered, unsure of where Sokka's hesitance was coming from.

"But we haven't even given Katara the chance to try and negotiate with them."

"It would be too late by then. My people are going to war in any case, you heard Hefeng: the army's already gathering. Our only option is to stop this before it escalates. Leaderless, my people won't know what to do. I'll step back in and assume rightful control and stop the war."

"And what exactly are we going to do with the leaders, once we have them?" Sokka asked, squeezing his fist so tightly that blood started dripping onto the floor as the wound reopened.

"We'll lock them up for treason," Zuko answered, starting to understand where the conversation was going.

"Ok, coz I don't want any more blood on our hands," Sokka said, looking at his fist, and loosening it. "Damn it… Messed up Ty Lee's room," he said quietly.

"It's ok, Ty Lee won't mind. We're leaving tomorrow anyway. C'mon, let's go over the details," Zuko said, pulling out the scroll Hefeng had delivered. He looked at Sokka, who stared intently at the drops of blood on the floor. "Don't worry, we'll do this with as little bloodshed as possible… and when she _does_ find out that we went behind her back, she'll understand. She always understands."

"Not always," Sokka said solemnly as he rubbed his bloody palm.


	18. Chapter 16: It Begins

Chapter 16: It Begins

"I'm telling you, it's some sort of need to compensate," the female waterbender told her companion, who was nodding silently, as they inspected the submarine down in the harbour.

It was dawn. High in the sky, seabirds circled in the breaking clouds as pinks, yellows and reds shifted across the sky, eagerly anticipating the calming blue of the day. The pair of waterbenders stood on a peer, examining the sub, as soldiers lowered whatever supplies Sokka had deemed necessary for the mission down the hatch on the ceiling. The sub itself was an old relic from the invasion during Black Sun, but with many odd and colourful additions to it. Bristling with spikes, blades and fins, all painted in various different colours, it seemed more like something you would find living on the bottom of the sea than a means of transportation for humans.

"I think I once ate a slug that could have been this thing's offspring," the man said.

"Exactly. How are we supposed to secretively invade that base of theirs if we look like this?"

"Oh put a sock in it for once Danya," Sokka told her with pursed lips as he approached, carrying a bag with various weapons. He had dug out his old Water Tribe battle suit. It must have once been a very awe inspiring sight, but one must remember it had last been worn over a decade ago. Now it was greying, torn and a couple of sizes too small for its owner.

"As long as it isn't one of yours, I'd be willing to eat one to avoid such a fate," Danya said, crossing her arms. "This is seriously what we're using? They'll spot us immediately!"

"It _is_ a sub, so we'll be under water most of the time," Sokka said as he threw the bag to a soldier on top of the sub, so he could put it in along with the other equipment.

"Like that'll work. I bet you painted this bucket with some silly paint that glows in the dark or something," Danya said, lowering her eyebrows into a scowl while her lips curved slightly into a smirk.

Sokka was silent for a moment, remembering how that had been the plan several years ago. It hadn't worked out in the end because those cool paints were so damn expensive. Rather than letting her know about this, he decided to change the topic.

"So, everyone else here yet?" he asked nonchalantly as he kicked a small pile of snow.

"No, not unless you count that airbender girl and whatever it was she was pulling behind her on that cart of hers. I thought I could hear groaning coming from it," Danya answered, gently bending the snow Sokka had kicked aside with a small wag of her foot.

Sokka stared at the snow, tumbling back into place with an annoyed look on his face. He then looked at her, only to find her smiling back at him fiendishly. "Nice… where is she now?" he asked her.

"Over there in the shades," Danya said as she pointed back towards the direction Sokka had come from. There, under a tarp of a small shop, was a cart with Hefeng sitting next to it, cross-legged, apparently meditating.

Sokka, happy for the reason to walk off, did so eagerly. He must have missed the girl when he'd hurried to the peer, thinking he was late. He should have known the others couldn't be expected to show up on time either. Hefeng was apparently meditating, but she had a rather strained look on her face.

"Umm, hi, excuse me. I'm not interrupting you am I?" Sokka asked her politely.

Hefeng opened an eye wearily, then noticing it was Sokka, stood up straight immediately. She gulped nervously while her cheeks started developing a rosy colour.

"W-we're here. On time," Hefeng said nervously.

"We?" Sokka asked. Almost immediately after asking, he remembered what Danya had said about the cart. Knowing that Toph and Ty Lee had been the last people he had seen with Hefeng, with Ty Lee saying something about a "girl's night out", it wasn't hard to guess what had happened the previous night.

"Toph and Ty Lee are in the cart, getting over a hangover, aren't they?" Sokka asked, rubbing his forehead in annoyance.

"Uhm, yes, Brother. The two of them insisted on taking me out for a drink. I told them it was against my teachings to use substances that can alter the mind and cloud decision, but they were… very persuasive," Hefeng said nervously, staring at the ground, fidgeting with her leg. "I suppose it was fortunate that I was able to only drink one "shot" before the drink caused me to pass out. Once I woke up, I found the two incapacitated and brought them here, fearing we might have missed our chance to join our mission, but was glad to find that we were the first to arrive."

"Aha, that's nice…" Sokka said distractedly as he peered under the tarp covering the cart. He raised an eyebrow as he saw two beautiful bodies tangled together in a way most men would have been glad to see. Sokka was one of those men, but he also had a mission. He sighed deeply at the injustice the universe seemed to be willing to make him suffer through. "Wake up!" he shouted at the pair.

"Aaaah!! Whuzzat?!"

"Ten more minutes, mommy."

"Make sure they're good to go within a couple of minutes, will ya?" Sokka asked Hefeng as he lowered the tarp back down on the confused women. Hefeng bowed deeply, as to hide blushing at the embarrassing circumstances she found herself in.

As Sokka made his way back towards the sub, Zuko joined him, walking briskly in the cold, crisp morning air. He had found a pair of swords, which he had strapped onto his back.

"Ready?" Zuko asked impatiently.

"Almost. All the supplies we need are stowed onboard, and we've got our waterbenders. It's just the other members of our team that are kind of out of it," Sokka said, while casually poking the air in the direction of the cart. Zuko followed Sokka's finger and noticed Hefeng peeking under a tarp, trying quietly and politely to rouse the occupants. Zuko smacked his forehead before he strode menacingly towards the cart. Sokka whistled innocently as he made his way to the sub, where he told the pair of waterbenders to get inside it and prepare for launch.

Zuko told Hefeng to get on the sub, since he would personally deal with the two people in the cart. The girl was nothing but eager to leave the pair to their fate, knowing that she herself had been extraordinarily lucky to avoid a similar fate. She jumped onto the top of the sub with aid from friendly winds and quickly slipped down the hatch, not wanting to witness the impending storm.

Zuko took in air, readying himself to berate the pair very, very loudly, knowing full well that loud noises were the last thing they wanted. He lifted the tarp, starting with, "I told you two not to – ", but failed to finish his shout as he got a proper sight of the two tangled bodies. He quickly lowered the tarp back down onto the pair. He was just a man after all.

"Uhm, could you two please hurry it up, we're about to leave… like right now…" he said weakly as he tried to forget what he had seen under the tarp. It made his blood boil. Any other time he would have relished the sight like any other man, but this just wasn't the time. _Why was life so cruel?_

"Ok, ok, ok. Don't get your panties in a bunch. Sheesh… hey why are you tugging at _mine_?" came Toph's muffled voice from under the tarp.

"I'm not, their just tangled with mine," Ty Lee answered worriedly.

A large amount of tumbling followed under the tarp, with the occasional expletive as the women tried to untangle themselves.

Zuko couldn't take it any more. He looked around and spotted several full buckets of water. He sprinted over to them and dumped one over his head, giving himself a much needed cold shower. Then he grabbed another one and brought it over to the wobbling cart. He lifted the tarp and threw the cold water on the girls. Both shrieked and jumped out of the cart with the sound of ripping clothing.

The pair glared angrily at Zuko as they tried to cover parts of their soaked bodies, which were dangerously close to being revealed in far too much detail, since in their effort to escape the freezing water, their clothes had ripped in several places.

Zuko turned around and ran back for another bucket of cold water, which he immediately dumped over his head, leaving the bucket over his head.

"Sorry," Zuko said as he turned to address the girls, with the bucket still on his head in order to protect the modesty of all parties involved. "But we gotta go… now. Oh, and there's a fresh set of clothes if you feel the urge to change."

Zuko could hear faint grumbling as wet feet padded away. He waited until he was certain that he was alone on the pier, before he lifted the bucket to carefully peer around to make certain there weren't any more scantily clad women. What he saw instead was a woman, staring at him from an uncomfortably close distance, but very well covered in a red cloak.

Azula peered at her big brother with an odd, curious, lopsided face. It broke into a smile as she saw his face.

"Why Zuzu, it _is_ you. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you. You weren't in our quarters, so I decided to go out and look for you." She looked around disapprovingly at the harbour. "But Zuzu, this is hardly the place for royalty, and look at the state you're in. Give me that dreadful headpiece. See, much better."

Azula handed Zuko his bucket back, or what was left of the gently burning wreckage with a smile.

"Uh, Azula…" Zuko started, but wasn't given the time to complete his hesitant reply.

"Planning an outing, Zuzu? Brilliant. I've been cooped up for so long. Some fresh air is just what I need."

"Azula… you should stay here. I have to take care of something… it might get dangerous…"

"Then that's all the more reason I should join you."

"Azula, it's not an outing."

She stepped closer to him, now standing directly in front of him. Her eyes focused intently on him. There was something familiar about them, something he hadn't seen in them for years, something he didn't like seeing again.

"Oh Zuzu, I might be crazy but I'm not stupid," Her voice took a more sinister tone. "I know what you're up to… I won't let you go alone. You promised me you wouldn't leave me."

"That's not -"

"This way, you can take care of that traitorous trollop and keep your promise to me. Don't worry, Zuzu, I'll look after you," Azula said, turning away and striding towards the sub, with the edges of her carefully draped cape flapping gently in the breeze.

Azula passed Sokka, the only member of the team still on the pier, giving him a disapproving glare before she quickly climbed on top of the sub and jumped down into its innards. Sokka's jaw hung limply as he turned to look at Zuko as he walked up to him.

"What. Is. She. Doing?!" Sokka asked, starting to feel genuine fear for the first time in their dangerous plan.

"She's coming along," Zuko said simply.

"No. No, no, no. No way. Did I say no yet?" Sokka said, staring worriedly at Zuko. "Oh by the way, I said no."

"I heard you, but she's coming. We wouldn't be able to stop her if we wanted to. Trust me, you don't want to make her angry."

"Oh, I know _that_. It's all the other mental states I'm just as worried about."

"C'mon, let's go. We've wasted enough time as it is," Zuko said solemnly as he climbed the sub's gaudy and pointy side.

Sokka grumbled angrily as he followed Zuko, finally starting to imagine how wrong this mission might go. Not surprisingly most of the mental images of failure featured a maniacally laughing Azula.

As the pair were about to descend down into the sub, they heard a loud sound, like something very heavy falling over and breaking a lot of ice under it. The two men looked at each other in surprise before they turned towards the direction the sound had come from. In the distance, at the palace's main gate, snow was fluttering into the air. Suddenly a loud, angry shout that sounded a lot like, "SOOOOKKKAAAA!!!", could be heard in the distance

Sokka gulped nervously. "Ah crap, she wasn't supposed to find out yet."

"Who? You don't mean – how did _she_ find out?" Zuko asked quickly realizing what could be causing so much damage to icy buildings as it made its way down towards the harbour.

"I left a note," squeaked Sokka.

"Damn it," Zuko muttered before he shouted down into the sub, "Launch, get us out of here, now!"

"Aye aye, sir," came a rather sarcastic sounding reply from Danya down in the dark insides of the sub.

The sub lurched, almost throwing Zuko and Sokka off it. The water on the sides of it was undulating, almost massaging the cylinder forward at a smooth speed rivalling that of a galloping ostrich horse. It didn't feel nearly fast enough for either Zuko or Sokka.

"IIIIIIKH! I think I can see _her_!" Sokka squealed in a high-pitched voice as he pointed at the pier, growing smaller rapidly.

There was indeed a blue figure standing on the pier. It stood there staring out at them for a moment before it jumped onto the water, freezing a patch to stand on, and then summoning waves that quickly started bringing her closer to her quarry.

"Whatarewegonnawhatarewegonnadowhatarewegonnado?!" Sokka went as he held his head in fear.

"Damn it… get down below and tell them to dive and make a fast turn as soon as I come down, okay?" Zuko asked the frantic Sokka. Zuko had to actually slap him to make him stop jabbering. "Got it?!"

"Yeah," Sokka said fearfully as he descended into the sub.

Zuko looked back at the quickly approaching figure, surfing its way towards them. He exhaled deeply, deeply regretting what he had to do. He punched out at the spot of water separating him and Katara, unleashing a jet of fire. As the flames hit the water, a giant spout of mist exploded, covering everything behind the sub in a curtain of fog. It wouldn't stop her, but it would give them the chance to make a clean getaway.

Zuko jumped down into the sub and hastily sealed the hatch. The waterbenders had been well informed of the situation by a hectic Sokka and were more than eager to do anything within their power to avoid a fate worse than death: one of Katara's rants/lectures.

Outside in the mist, Katara raised her hands and easily waved the mist away by condensing it back into water. She was ready to use the floating tendrils of water to freeze the sub in place, but found nothing but a clear, peaceful ocean awaiting her on the other side of the misty veils. She fumed at the spot she had thought the sub had been and brought all the floating snakes of water down on it in frustration, freezing the tendrils into icy spikes; needing some way to vent.

"Damn it, Sokka… everybody. We were supposed to be better than this," She said sadly as she stared at the rising, blood red sun in the horizon.

* * *

"So that's the plan, everyone got it?" Sokka asked his little commando group, very excited now that his scary sister was extremely far away and unable to berate or squish him.

Everyone, except Azula, who stared at Sokka with an annoyed expression, nodded their heads determinedly. All of them were sitting on the bare floor of the sub, except the two waterbenders in the back, who were standing and waving and rotating their arms in order to push the sub along the murky depths of the ocean.

"We should be arriving soon. So get ready, we only get one chance to do this, and it has to go perfectly. We'll be facing overwhelming odds, but if we're careful we'll be able to avoid detection," Sokka said, before he turned to inspect the periscope, another one of his brilliant ideas.

Most people nodded collectively once again, but the two Fire Nation royalty looked at each other before they rolled their eyes.

"This plan is _stupid_. It'll fail before we even get a chance to start it," Azula said quietly to her brother.

"You're right. Most of these people are incapable of subtlety. We'll be going to plan C immediately," Zuko agreed.

"Even plan B was doomed to fail. It's far too similar to plan A," Azula said, nodding. "Did you tell the disgustingly dirty earthbending midget what she should do when we enter the fray?"

"Her name is Toph, Azula, and yes, I did tell her what to do," Zuko said, giving Azula a reproachful look, before he sneaked a glance at Toph, to make sure she hadn't overheard Azula. If she had, she certainly wasn't showing it as she whispered something into Ty Lee's ear, who giggled loudly.

"Bad enough we have to resort to using these lowlife Water Tribe peasants," Azula said, pursing her lips. "And the airbender, she knows her part too?"

"Yes. Are you sure about this Azula?"

"I know that base. We cannot enter it through subterfuge. A direct approach is best if we want to achieve victory."

"But we'll be overwhelmed, all of the Fire Nation's armed forces are gathering there."

"All the more reason those inbred hicks do what I tell them. If they follow my plan and not that oaf's, we'll actually have the element of surprise on our side, and possibly reach our goals before the soldiers realize what hit them."

Zuko gave Azula a scrutinizing look. He hadn't seen her this composed and in control in a long time. As much as he enjoyed seeing such progress in her, he was starting to feel uneasy. It was the fact that she seemed to be so coherent when she was plotting an attack that made it worse. It made her feel more like the old Azula, the one he thought they had managed to leave behind. He had hoped he could keep her away from any more violence, to protect her sanity, but he wasn't sure if that was really the case anymore. Maybe it had been the violence that had kept it clear for her. He sincerely hoped that wasn't the case, that his sister had indeed changed for the better. If she could take control of her life, he should as well.

Azula looked back at him, giving a similar look at him. She turned her head from side to side, trying to read what his brother was contemplating. He had been inspecting her, in a worried fashion like a mother watches her children playing somewhere dangerously high, but the look had glazed over as his thoughts had become deeper. She was both intrigued and annoyed by this development. She had built her previous life around reading the emotions of others, to more easily manipulate them and partly, although she wasn't fully aware of it, to experience the feelings she never had. Seeing her brother behaving so mysteriously and… unpredictably made it like a fresh new puzzle to solve.

"What are you thinking about, sweet Zuzu?" Azula asked gently, placing her head against his chest lovingly while a hand drew curly lines into his shirt. She could hear his heart thumping evenly. It was thrilling to be so close to something that endowed a beloved person with life.

"Oh, nothing really…" Zuko said, startling from his thoughts as he looked down at Azula against his chest, who was looking back at him. "Just worried about the mission… we've lost so much already, I'd hate to lose any more friends." He lifted his gaze and looked around at the people inside the sub.

"Hmmm… Yes, you've been spending quite a lot of time with Ty Lee, the muddy girl and that bumbling idiot," Azula said contemplatively, as she sneaked a quick leer towards Toph and Ty Lee, still chatting excitedly together. "What exactly is your relationship with those two women?"

Zuko looked back down at Azula, who looked back at him innocently from his chest. He thought he had heard a note of jealousy in her voice, but didn't see a trace of it in her calm face. "They're both close friends… And could you please stop insulting them? All of them?"

"I don't insult all of them. I don't insult Ty Lee," Azula said innocently.

"I mean it. Stop calling them names, they're our friends and they're helping us," Zuko said firmly.

Azula stared emptily up at him before she pushed herself off his chest, turning her head away from him. "Fine… what were their names again?"

"Sokka and Toph."

"Sokka and… _Toph_. I'll be sure to remember that, dear Zuzu," Azula said kindly, but still facing away from Zuko.

"Good," Zuko said as he got up and walked over to Sokka, who was still excitedly peering around with his periscope. The cold glares Azula was giving both Ty Lee and Toph went unnoticed by him.

"I think I can see the base," Sokka whispered to Zuko. "We're closing in. Soon we'll be ready to sneak in." He gave a short nefarious laugh.

"Um, Sokka… there's been a change in plans," Zuko said, scratching at the back of his head.

"Huh?" Sokka said distractedly as he continued peering through the telescope. He'd had a pretty good sneaky laugh going and Zuko had interrupted it.

"We're not going past the gates, Sokka, we're going to go through them," Zuko said. "You should get ready for impact."

Zuko walked away towards the waterbenders, ready to give them the signal.

After a moment, Sokka asked hesitantly, finally peeling his eyes away from the periscope, "Wait… what?"

* * *

The base the team was heading for was a giant floating metal fortress. It was an old remnant of the old war, commissioned by Fire Lord Azulon in his early days as leader of the Fire Nation. He had wanted a proper place for launching his fleets to combat the raiding Water Tribe boats and easy access to the Earth Kingdom. It hadn't worked so well. Because it wasn't attached to anything, and always floating, ships had a hard time finding it. Fully manning it also took away far too many men and resources. It had only been used a couple of times altogether, each time serving as a launch point for a new campaign. Funny thing about history, it loves repetition.

However, this time it would not see the launch of the newest Fire Nation campaign, quite the opposite in fact, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Suffice to say, the day would contain many surprises for the Fire Nation and its future.

As a guard surveyed the calm waters around the base, spotting the occasional approaching Fire Nation vessel, by land or air, he thought he saw a dark shadow gliding across the water towards the base. He looked up at the skies, to spot the thing casting the shadow. The sky was clear and no airships or balloons were anywhere in the vicinity of the shadow. He looked back at the gliding shadow.

Only it wasn't a shadow anymore. Waves broke into an arrowhead formation as something broke the water's surface. It must have been some sort of animal, it had so many spikes and fins on its multi-coloured back, after all. Then a hatch on its back opened and three people emerged. That wasn't supposed to happen, thought the guard. He considered making an alarm, when suddenly the beast jumped out of the water.

An orange clad figure stepped to the front of the thing, and a sudden rush of wind suddenly began to lift the thing up higher. The guard, noticing that the beast's trajectory was ending uncomfortably close to his watchtower, decided to make the best of what would most likely be the end of his career and jumped out of the tower and into the ocean. Better take my chances with the sea serpents than face my commanding officer's wrath, he though as he began paddling towards an approaching warship.

* * *

"I don't think I can hold it much longer," Hefeng shouted through clenched teeth as she tried to aid the sub's jump with powerful gusts. "I don't think we'll be able to go over!"

"Don't worry, that's why we're here," Zuko shouted to be overheard in the rushing wind as he glanced back at Azula. "Should we just try to blast our way or try to melt the top of the wall down?"

"Melt it," Azula shouted back with a smirk, "The molten steel will cause more damage as we descend upon our enemies."

Zuko thought over it briefly, as he didn't have much time before the sub crashed into the thick, solid wall. He really didn't like the sound of extra damage and the possible victims falling, molten iron would cause, but this was no time to go soft. They needed all the confusion they could get. "Fine. You ready?" he shouted at both Hefeng and Azula.

"Ready," The two shouted back.

Hefeng flipped through the air, landing behind the royal siblings as they charged the front of the sub, unleashing a spiraling column of blue and red fire. It burrowed deep into the wall, but other than an eerie red glow, nothing seemed to be happening to it.

"Harder!!" Zuko shouted, summoning all of his strength into the fiery torrent. Azula laughed gleefully, also applying all of her strength as she laughed in death's face.

Suddenly the glowing wall began to bend and twist. The pair kept drilling into it with their spiraling flames until they were about to hit. They stopped and leapt back towards Hefeng as they were about to hit the wall. She had taken out her staff, now holding it above her head as she began twirling it at a blinding speed. Zuko and Azula grabbed her waist as she strained to propel them over the wall.

The sub hit the melting wall, passing through it like a knife through warm butter. Molten steel splashed everywhere. Azula and Zuko were forced to use bursts of fire from their feet to help propel them higher and strike the occasional glowing gob before it hit them, sending it falling into the water where it and its many companies hissed angrily as they made contact with the sea.

All the shaking caused by Azula and Zuko was causing a strain on Hefeng, but almost miraculously she managed to carry them over the wall and past the flowing rivers of molten steel into the courtyard where many soldiers had been eating lunch in groups. The courtyard was already in chaos as the soldiers ran away from the deadly spray of the hot glowing rain splattering around from the impact.

The sub itself was covered in a glowing heap, but suddenly the top of it was ripped off and thrown carelessly to the side. Five figures emerged. One dressed mostly in greens punched a hole into the courtyard's metallic floor, and began burrowing into the floor. Soon water sprouted from the hole. Two figures in blue bended the water and sprayed it violently at the soldiers who were still close enough. They then gathered enough water for their needs and made their way towards the docked airships.

Toph emerged from a new hole in the ground and joined Sokka and Ty Lee. They then preceded towards the spot where they thought the three flying members of their team would land in, taking out confused stragglers as they advanced.

"Look, blasting jelly," Azula said happily, pointing towards a pile of barrels against the far wall of the courtyard where most of the remaining soldiers had gathered in order to avoid the falling globs of steel.

"Azula, no. We don't need any more –" Zuko started but didn't have the time to finish his objection as Azula pointed at the barrels and shot a piercing lance of fire into one of the central barrels.

The resulting explosion destroyed most of the wall behind the barrels, while the men standing in front of them flew in everyone direction, deeply burned.

As the three finally landed, with Azula and Zuko jumping off as Hefeng nearly collapsed from exertion into the waiting hands of Sokka, Zuko roughly grabbed Azula by her cloak, who was gently chuckling to herself.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Zuko shouted at the surprised looking Azula.

"Making sure the mission succeeds," She answered calmly, blinking in the glow of the fires the explosion had caused.

"Damn it, Azula! We're not here to kill our own people! We're her to capture the leaders!" Zuko shouted, lifting his sister into the air, onto her toes.

"I know… Zuzu," Azula gasped as the cape tightened around her throat. "We need… the chaos… if we don't hurry… this'll all have been… in vain…"

Zuko glared at her. Then he noticed how he was nearly choking her. He quickly released his hold on her, dropping her to the ground. He stared angrily at the remains of the explosion and all the littered bodies across the courtyard.

"Damn it. It wasn't supposed to happen like this…"

"Zuko, we gotta go," Toph said gently, pulling him by the arm towards an open doorway. "C'mon."

Zuko looked at her angrily, but calmed down and allowed her to lead him into the doorway followed by Sokka and Hefeng, who had caught her breath by now. Ty Lee pulled Azula up from the ground and pulled her along after the group. If she had looked back, she would have noticed the angry look Azula had on her face, which had started the very moment Toph had touched her Zuko.


	19. Chapter 17: Scattered

Chapter 17: Scattered

Zuko wasn't pleased with the situation, even though everything was proceeding according to plan… well mostly. The base was engulfed in utter chaos and confusion, as the remaining soldiers were forced to fight fires, try and seal the leaks Toph had made, and getting the wounded help. Even though the plan was advancing better than they had dared to hope for, mostly because of Azula's natural talent for chaos, Zuko didn't like how it was all progressing. He had wanted to avoid casualties, but instead, they had been the only means of making a perfect distraction. Even so, he didn't like it. It just didn't feel right.

The group stopped running down the iron corridor when they arrived at a crossing, with three corridors leading towards unknown dangers. Distant shouting could be heard coming from each new corridor.

"Right, which way?" Zuko asked Sokka, who had spent the most time studying the information delivered by the White Lotus.

Sokka took a moment to look around, trying to visualize the crude map they had been provided, and to remember where the leaders had been reported to hold most of their meetings. "Up," he said suddenly, as he arrived at a conclusion.

"Really?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, I'm certain of it," Sokka said rather offhandedly as he continued peering down the corridors.

"Okay. Toph -"

"Way ahead of you," Toph said as she grabbed a wall roughly. She pulled down on it, bringing the ceiling down with it with a horrible screeching sound. She started beating the metal into a form that could be easily climbed up to the new hole in the ceiling, resembling crude stairs.

Azula gave a reserved stare at Toph as she bent the metal, seizing the woman up in that cold calculating manner so familiar to her. She was starting to feel a lot better than she had in years, the sharp edge to her thoughts was returning, it was like waking up from a bad dream. It was all starting to make sense again. _It was so simple now…_

Zuko lead the charge up the rough stairs, jumping up with a burst of flames, knowing soldiers had merely been lying in wait for them as soon as the hole in the floor had appeared. Pushed back by the mighty flames, the soldiers had no time to react, as three blindingly fast shadows bolted amongst them, knocking them out.

"Nice work, Ty. I almost forgot how good you are at this," Sokka said admiringly as he returned his still sheathed sword to his belt. There had been no need to withdraw the scabbard's deadly innards. The blunt side of his sword was more than enough to knock out his share of the guards.

"Oh, you have no idea how good I am with my hands," Ty Lee said with a playful wink in his direction.

"C'mon, we don't have time for this," Zuko said quickly as he rushed down the dark corridor towards a pair of decorated golden doors, rather out of place in the dark, sterile corridors, while the sounds of distant shouting and the roars of a spreading fire echoed down them.

As Zuko reached the doors, he peered around for guards. He spotted none. Apparently they'd already taken all the guards out as they entered through the floor. He took a final look behind him, to make certain his team was behind him and ready to go. He turned to the doors and kicked them open with a fiery burst.

"Aah, the deposed Fire Lord. Come back for your crown?" Fu Bai said with an annoying smirk. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up at all."

Ordinarily a remark like that would have stopped Zuko, but he was too busy examining the scene in front of him. In the vast dark hall, with braziers and hanging lanterns giving an eerie shifting light on the room, and a giant slab of metal acting as a table in the center with a map on it, stood Fu Bai, surrounded by three men.

Zuko didn't need to know anything else. He didn't feel this was a time for pointless banter and flexing. He just wanted this to end. As fast as possible.

"Take them," he said grimly to his friends behind him, before he unleashed a giant ball of fire at Fu Bai. All of the people gathered around the table jumped out of its way nimbly, spreading out evenly throughout the room, assuming various battle stances.

"What's wrong Zuko, not in the mood to talk?" Fu Bai taunted, receiving another ball of fire in response, which she dodged with a nimble jump. "You'll have to do better than that, old boy," She continued, before she shouted at her comrades, "Scatter! The plan moves on! Complete your duties!"

The three men each ran towards separate corners of the giant room, quickly disappearing behind small hidden doorways.

"Damn it! Chase them!" Zuko shouted as he inched slowly towards Fu Bai, who now decided to go on the offensive and fired several small bolts of fire at Zuko's friends, who had started running after the other men.

Zuko pulled his arms back and brought them up in a swerve, summoning a wall of larger flames against which Fu Bai's smaller bolts disappeared into harmlessly.

Sokka and Toph ran after a tall skinny man, while Ty Lee and Hefeng chased after a big burly man with a trimmed beard. Azula smirked as she walked after the last man, calmly licking her lips expectantly. Soon they had all disappeared, leaving only the two leaders behind in the vast hall.

As Zuko approached Fu Bai slowly, swatting away her streams of fire, she gave up on fire power, and instead pulled a vial from under her belt. She threw it into the air. Zuko, not wanting to take any chances, blasted it immediately with a blast of fire. A purple vapor sprung out, quickly filling the room, before the gas settled into the air and lost its putrid color.

Both Zuko and Fu Bai coughed heavily as they felt the gas's presence in their lungs.

"Wah-what was that?" Zuko asked before lunging at Fu Bai. He landed and somersaulted, finishing the maneuver with a blast from his feet.

"A precaution," Fu Bai said smugly, rolling away from the blast towards the scolded table, where she picked up a small black case that had survived Zuko's initial blast, opening it and donning a silver amulet with a brightly shining red gem in it as she jumped out of yet another blast from Zuko's fists. "Just like this."

She turned around to face Zuko, turning her arms swiftly around in wide arcs as cold blue static electricity arched around her hands, turning the entire dark room into a place of deep contrast where light and shadows struggled for supremacy. From both of her hands, she unleashed two unrestrained, forking bolts of lightning at Zuko.

* * *

"Where'd he go?" Toph asked as she and Sokka reached a fork in the small dark corridor they were running through.

"How should I know, you're the one with the super senses," Sokka said, trying desperately to peer at the small white points at the ends of the hallways, trying to spot movement.

"Fine, just give me – duck!" Toph shouted as she heard the whistle of unreleased arrows.

Sokka hit the floor as Toph fell to her knees and hit the metal floor with her fists, creating a dent deep enough for the pair to avoid the projectiles.

"A bad guy who doesn't bend, one of the leaders? I'm impressed," Sokka said, unsheathing his sword while remaining low inside the crater. "Okay, he's a projectile user. Attack plan Crouching Mantis Surprise, go!"

"Say what?" Toph asked, utterly mystified by Sokka's words. She knew what each of them meant, but none of them made any sense together.

"I said attack plan Crouching Mantis Surprise. It's almost the same as the Lion Moose Hurtle, except with your special bending skills taken into account," Sokka said, as if that explained everything.

"I still have no idea what you're talking about," Toph said, trying to feel the attacker through the metal.

"Attack plan Crouching Mantis Surprise! Damn it! Didn't any of you listen to my attack patterns?" Sokka asked indignantly, trying to sneak a peek at the unseen assailant, only to have some of the hair in his wolftail shot off, as an arrow nearly missed his ducking head.

"C'mon, nobody ever really listens to your stupid plans," Toph said, starting to grow worried as she couldn't find their attacker's location.

* * *

Hefeng and Ty Lee ran after their target, following him at a much closer pace than the others. Soon, the three of them reached a large hall, with mighty pillars holding up the ceiling, while wide aisles ran across it, housing various weapons.

The man they were following was a huge monster of a man, rippling with muscles, bordering on the line of reality with their immense size. Even so, he was running at a surprising speed for such a massive creature towards a door at the other end of the hall.

"Please, move aside so I may use some bending and not harm you!'' Hefeng shouted politely from behind Ty Lee as they ran.

Ty Lee, used to taking orders from various benders in combat, quickly jumped out of the way, knowing full well what could happen if she was accidentally hit.

Hefeng stopped abruptly, taking a wide stance as she brought her staff down in a wide arc, blasting a wave of air at the giant running man. The man was so heavy, that the gust of wind failed to topple him, but merely gave him an extra boost in speed.

"Hey! That's not how you do it!" Ty Lee shouted as she ran after the man.

"I'm sorry!" Hefeng shouted back, glad that the other woman couldn't see her blush. That would have merely added to the humiliation.

The man was nearly at the door, when Hefeng thought of another use for her bending. Instead of aiming at anyone else, she directed a current of air towards herself, which carried her over the two running people. She gingerly landed in front of the door, and brought her staff around in what she hoped was a menacing manner.

The giant man did indeed stop, most likely at being surprised by such a weird looking girl in oranges and yellows descending from above. Unfortunately for him, that was all the time Ty Lee needed to catch up with him. She nimbly spun around him, hitting him with jabs at various places around his waist (she couldn't reach higher, and she certainly didn't want to go lower).

The man stood still for a moment, with a pained expression on his face, until he glared angrily at the small people in front of him. "That hurt," he said with a voice that resembled the grinding of stones together.

"Uhm, excuse me, but why aren't you falling over?" Ty Lee asked worriedly, as she rubbed her knuckles. Punching the man had felt like hitting solid steel.

"Mama, always told me to drink my milk, so I'd grow up big and strong, so guess what I did?" The giant asked, cracking a deranged smile.

"Drank a lot of milk?" Ty Lee hazarded as she backed up towards Hefeng.

"No, I beat people up on a daily basis," the man said, cracking his knuckles, while he inspected the weaponry around him. "Sadly I don't have the time to enjoy giving you two the complete physical workout, so I guess it was a good thing we ended up in the armory." He lifted a pair of giant staffs, one with double-edged blades at both ends, while the other had spiked balls on chains at its ends.

The two girls gulped nervously as they backed away, huddling close together.

* * *

Azula's heart was racing. She could feel her spine tingling as she approached her target, an old wizened man, who had stopped to catch his breath. Hardly a proper opponent for her. She'd tear him apart, limb by limb.

_Don't,_ a voice inside her head said, _don't do it, don't kill anymore._

And do what? Let the sniveling old fool get away without a proper punishment? The fool and his comrades had no idea what it meant to rule, to wield power as a sword so powerful, a shield was not needed. You couldn't just find power like that in the world, you had to be born with it, and even then you had to train and hone it to a sharp, fine edge, piercing all those who dared to oppose you.

_Don't, this isn't you anymore. You're better than this. You don't have to kill him to prove you're stronger or to punish him. There are worse fates, just think of your father…_

Another weakling not worth her time, a ghost from a distant past, long dead to her. She'd take care of this weakling, proving herself to Zuko, and rush back to his aid. He needed to know that only she could be depended upon and not any of those other dirty harlots he hung around with nowadays. They weren't fit to lick his pointy boots clean.

_Zuko doesn't want you to kill! And neither do I!_

Zuko?

The inner machinations of Azula's mind were interrupted as the wheezing old man suddenly rose up and delivered a series of swift jabs, brimming with spouts of fire at Azula.

Azula's cape unfurled as he her taloned fingers flashed, unleashing serpents of blue electricity, colliding with terrible screeching noises against the small bolts of fire that had been shot at her.

Battle. Oh, how she'd missed it. It was time to roast this gizzard. Maybe she could keep his skull as a memento, heh. All she needed was to focus on the single pleasurable thought of the man screaming in agony, and silence those other dreadful voices in her head. All she needed was her old calm, collected self to focus her mind for the hurting. Once again, she would be able to exert control over something in this, cruel, cold world, bringing it a purpose – no – focus. No more blurred, erratic thoughts, just pure, simple power, the kind you could only have over another creature. The ultimate control: to choose who lives and dies and when.

_Please, Azula, I'm begging you!_

Oh shut up, mother, and let me have my fun. Zuko need never know of my little moment of weakness.


	20. Chapter 18: Sacrifices

Chapter 18: Sacrifices

"Can't you find him?" Sokka asked angrily, patting at his wolftail, which had become significantly shorter after attempting to peek at their ranged attacker several times.

"No, I can't, for the fiftieth time!" Toph replied back irritably.

"Ok, I've had just about enough of this; make a tunnel or something! No wait! Make yourself into Iron Man again! I mean, _Woman_."

"Ugh, dur," Toph grumbled, slapping her forehead in embarrassment. She ripped up a large piece of steel around her, making it into a suit. She then proceeded clumping down the narrow corridor with Sokka carefully sneaking up behind her, careful not to allow any of his precious body parts to extrude past the new and wide form Toph possessed.

A pair of arrows twanged ineffectively against Toph's armored chest. She laughed tauntingly at the now weak attempts on her life. Suddenly an arrow flew straight for her head, she wasn't worried of course, that is, until she heard the sound of breaking glass accompany the twang of the arrow as it bounced of her metal face harmlessly. Suddenly her faceplate started feeling warmer.

Several more sounds and thumps against her body were heard as arrows with small glass vials of dark green liquid hit her armor. The metal started to feel uncomfortably warm and soft around her body.

"Sokka, what's going on?" she asked, starting to get extremely worried.

Sokka quickly glanced at the front of Toph's armor, a face of horror spreading over his face as he noticed the damage. "Get that armor off! It's melting!" he shouted.

As Toph quickly tore off her armor, to rid herself of the melting metal, she was distracted enough as to allow an arrow to sneak past her defenses. If it hadn't been for Sokka, pushing her aside just in time to avoid a hit in the throat, she would have died. Instead, the arrow merely embedded itself deep into her shoulder.

"AAAAHHH!!" Toph screamed in pain, as she fell to the floor, clutching at the arrow.

Their invisible opponent wasted no time within his hiding place. He launched a volley of arrows at her. Sokka jumped in front of her, swinging his sword in a graceful arc, stopping most of the arrows from hitting Toph. The rain of arrows continued unabated, with Sokka swinging like a mad man, trying to stop each and every one.

"Toph! Ungh! Make! Gah! Cover!" Sokka shouted between grunts and gasps for breath, while blocking lethal shots with his flurrying sword.

Toph regained her focus. She got up and tore a metal wall away, creating a hole for the pair to go through into a small empty room full of supplies. The pair jumped in without a moments delay.

"Agh! Damn it! He hit me in the shoulder!" Toph shouted in frustration and pain, as she broke the arrow in two, the tip still poking painfully into her shoulder.

Sokka was leaning on his sword, doubled over as he wheezed. "Go through walls… saw glint in shadows… 'bout hundred paces forward… upper right corner of corridor."

Suddenly an arrow ricocheted against a wall in the hall and landed in the room with them. It too was a modified one, but instead of a vial of acid, it carried with a small cylinder with a lit fuse, almost done burning its way to its explosive contents.

"Go!" Sokka shouted.

Toph thrust her hands through the wall of the small room and pulled metal apart to allow passage into the next similar room. The pair jumped in with Toph managing to close the hole just in time before the explosion went off. The wall shuddered and bent towards them from the force of the blast. Apparently, there had been other explosive materials in the previous room. Toph had to brace the wall with her hands, in order to stop the wall from being blown on top of them. As the explosion died away, Toph pulled her burned hands away from hot metal. She gritted her teeth together, unwilling to scream in pain a second time that day.

"Damn, my hands…" Toph muttered, holding her hands up as they trembled. "Is it bad, Sokka?"

No reply came. Toph stretched out her senses and noticed that Sokka wasn't upright anymore, but lying on the floor. She stepped up to him carefully, giving him a small nudge with her foot. "C'mon Sokka we gotta go and stop that guy… Sokka?"

No reply came once again. Toph, with cold sweat now replacing the red hot pains of her shoulder and hands, knelt down and gently touched Sokka's prone figure. Soon, she noticed something that didn't belong, attached to his chest. It was an arrow. And there were more than one sticking out of the man. Toph found two on his abdomen, one in his left thigh, and one in his right arm.

"Sokka?" Toph asked, with the syllables coming out in quiet squeaks. She touched his throat.

A pulse! She felt a pulse! It was weak, but it was still there!

"Sokka, you bloody idiot! You shouldn't have taken all those arrows for me," Toph muttered, sniffing awkwardly as she tried to hold back tears. "I'll get him, I swear I will, and I'll kill him…" Toph declared, as rage replaced the fear, pain and sorrow.

"Hold on, I'll deal with this as fast as possible, and then I'll get you some help. I promise," Toph said, wiping tears away from her eyes as she stood up. She clenched her fists, with the pain from her burned palms only fueling her rage.

"I'll kill him!"Toph shouted as she barreled her way through the wall, not stopping to bend the walls with her hands, instead, head butting her way through them until she figured she'd gone far enough.

As Toph burst through a wall and back into the small corridor, her target, who had carefully crept back towards the site of the explosion, to inspect his kill, turned around to face a snarling, crying beast.

Toph sprinted towards the man with tremendous speed. The man, so shocked by her appearing from behind him, only managed to pull back and aim the arrow he had had trained on his bow just in time to shoot it at her.

Toph slide against the metal floor, scrunching it up in front of her to form a protective barrier. She then ran and tackled the pile of metal, sending a large chunk of it flying at the man. He jumped over it, ready to release another arrow in midair.

Toph grasped the walls beside her, using all the strength in her small body, and pulled down the roof of the entire corridor on the two combatants.

* * *

The giant of a man swung the bladed staff down, shattering the tiled floor, which someone had decided would go nicely with the natural elegance only an armory could produce. Ty Lee and Hefeng jumped away from it, in different directions.

"Aah, good old divide and conquer tactics, eh? Make me chase one of you, while the other sneaks up on me, hm?" the giant asked, raising a thick eyebrow while he forced the rest of his face into an odd grimace.

Both girls gave each other a questioning look before they shrugged together. The man lifted the bladed staff and threw it at Ty Lee. She jumped over it, running across its speeding length, and then jumped at the end with a spinning kick aimed for the man's face. With a satisfying crunch, she broke his nose. She landed in front of him and swiped her legs, intending to topple the giant. Instead, she pulled back in pain. Kicking the man in the leg had felt like kicking an iron pole.

The man grinned down at her as he spit out blood. She rolled away, not wanting the putrid stuff to land on her. The man swung the other staff down at her, chains clinking as the spiked ball descended on her.

Just then, Hefeng swung her own staff, creating a wind that blew Ty Lee out from under the spiked ball and into a shelf full of helmets. All of its contents came down on her, hard.

"Sorry!" Hefeng shouted after Ty Lee, standing on her toes to inspect the damage she had done, deeply worried for her companion's wellbeing. She bit her lower lip nervously.

The man lifted his staff, giving Hefeng the chance to see the damage the spiked ball had done to the floor. She gulped fearfully.

The man threw the giant staff at her, it spinning at her with dangerous velocity. Hefeng dodged the twirling device of death by jumping towards a wall from which she bounced at the man, spinning her staff as to conjure a whirlwind aimed at his head. The giant of a man merely reached through the vortex and grabbed the girl in his arms in midflight. He started squeezing her hard in a deadly embrace.

"Hey, why don't you have proper hair like a good girl?" the man asked as he looked down at the puny figure in his arms.

Hefeng was unable reply, except in gasps, while her joints creaked. She thought she could feel bones breaking. Tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"Awwh, I hate it when they cry, takes all the fun out of it, but it's understandable: just a little girl, out to save the world and what happens, she gets crushed in the arms of a maniac, before she's probably even felt the tender hands of a lover. But don't worry, I'll end it quickly," the man said in what he thought was a reassuring voice as he smirked at the girl, who was gasping desperately for air.

"Leave her alone!" came a shout from across the room with the accompaniment of a flying helmet to the man's head. He let Hefeng go, as he reached for his bleeding temple. Hefeng crashed to the floor, unable to feel her arms, crying out in pain.

Ty Lee, glaring at the man from across the hall, reached into her loose pants.

"Sorry babe, nothing you can offer I haven't had before," the man smiled wickedly at Ty Lee, while she searched her pants.

"Shut up, you ugly freak," Ty Lee said determinedly, as she whipped out a pair of iron fans, opening them up and dropping into a low attack stance. "You're going down… hard."

"With a pair of fans? Don't make me laugh, girlie. You two haven't even been able to break me into a sweat and now you plan to fan me? Heh, you really are a full service girl, maybe I'm not above you offering a few _pleasurable services_ to me."

"That is _it_!" Ty Lee shouted angrily as she lunged for the man. He brought his giant fist down on her, but she skipped sideways, while hitting him on the wrist with the fans.

"AAARRRGHH!!!" the man howled in pain, grasping at his now limp palm with the other. "What did you do to it?!"

"Earlier, I tried hitting some of your pressure points, to spare you the pain, as paralysis would have set in, but it looks like you're tougher than that, maybe it's all those bulging muscles you have," Ty Lee explained, glaring at the man, before she quickly risked a glance at Hefeng. "Now I'll tell you why I was considered the most dangerous Kyoshi warrior… _ever_. It's why I was relieved of my services to them. I learned a lot from them, but unfortunately, my previous skills didn't really match up with theirs. I had been trained to strike at a body's weak spots, and using the more restrained Kyoshi techniques on them could prove deadly… but _you'll_ probably survive them. Of course, that won't mean it won't hurt."

The giant troll of a man looked fearfully at the small woman standing in front of him; no one had ever hurt him like this. But suddenly, the fear turned to anger; she had _hurt_ him! He growled again, before he grabbed a nearby mace, and swung it down on Ty Lee.

But once again, Ty Lee dodged the blow, and ran along his weapon. When she ran up his arm, she stopped and brought her fans down forcefully, into the man's shoulder, hitting nerves. The man screamed in agony as the weapon fell from his hand. He fell over as Ty Lee delivered another kick to his head.

Jumping off the man as he came down heavily, she gave the beast one last hateful look before she turned and ran to Hefeng, hiding her potential cruelty behind a dangerously deceptive, concerned smile. "You okay?" she asked Hefeng worriedly.

"I – ah – yes… th-that was amazing!" Hefeng said, glancing at the toppled giant.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I –"

"Look out!" Hefeng shouted, kicking Ty Lee away with a gust of wind as a gigantic foot flew towards them. The giant man had gotten up and with lightning speed had proceeded to enacting vengeance with a dangerous kick. Hefeng flew across the hall, into a pillar, and then fell down with broken pieces of the pillar, crashing hard into the floor.

"Hefeng!" Ty Lee shouted fearfully, reaching out for the girl with a stretched arm from far away against a wall, against which she had flown.

"Ha, one down, one to go. And who knows, if the two of you aren't too badly damaged after all of this, I can keep you as my _spoils of war_," the man smiled a broken smile, blood and broken teeth gushing out.

Anger gripped Ty Lee as she got up. No more stupid banter, this creep was going down, _permanently_. She screamed a bloodcurdling cry as she ran at the monster, this time, aiming for his neck.

The man kicked at her, but once again, she dodged by jumping onto the attacking body part, and then propelled herself at his head. As she brought her fans down at his neck, he made to tackle her against the wall, now expecting something like this from her.

The entire hall echoed with the following crash.

* * *

Stop holding back, a cold voice inside Azula's head said. Aim for the kill, nothing else matters except victory. Foolish warriors talk of honor and greatness on the battlefield, but a true soldier – no, a ruler as well – knows that there is no greater glory than victory in itself, everything else is merely a means to it. Only weaklings cling to notions of honor. They are losers, trying to rationalize away their imminent losses.

But Zuko…

He too knows the need for sacrifices. He gave up a wife to lead this world; sure she wasn't much of a wife, but still… And then there's all of this! After losing everything, what did he do? He goes into battle, risking his life and those of his comrades for what he believes in, when a weaker man would have slinked away in shame, accepting loss.

But Zuko…

Is waiting for you, he loves you like no one ever has, or ever will. But you have to be useful to him, or he'll throw you away. Together, you can rule this world, as the mighty Phoenix King and Queen of a new world. Can't you see? It's so glorious, so beautiful… You two, standing side by side as the mighty Phoenix King and Queen, passing judgment over weaker mortals, the only way that matters, the way of the strong.

Zuko…

Yes, let me take control. I can give it all to you: Zuko, the throne, the world, vengeance… anything. Just let me out!

For Zuko…

Yes…

"Will you hold still? I have better things to do than waste my time with the likes of you. For an old man, you're annoyingly spry," Azula said, swatting a blast of fire away, as she regained her initiative in what had been a defensive role on her side for the passing minutes as her inner dialogue had taken away some of her concentration.

"What can I say, destiny cannot be stopped," the old man smirked back at the princess, hitting her shot of fire with one of his own.

"Destiny… wake up old man, it's nothing but an empty world with nothing but pointless repeating cycles. Life is pointless, even though most fools refuse to accept it. So all you should do is enjoy the short moments you have left, old man, while I go forth and forge my own destiny." Azula spun slightly with a kick, gushing forth flames, which ended in a blazing punch, shooting a blast at the man's head.

"Repeating cycles, hmmm? Sounds a bit like destiny if you ask me." The old man dropped low and spun on his heels, as flames revolved around, forcing Azula's fire to move along with his fire around the man while the shot aimed at his head flew harmlessly over him.

"Ahahaa, maybe you're right old man, maybe there is a pattern we can't fight, but just look at us… there's just two wills, battling together, and only the mightier will conquer, not the righteous." Azula spun her hands around each other, forming a disk of azure flames spinning in the opposite direction to the man's protective vortex. She unleashed the disk, which negated the other swirling flames. Quickly, Azula strode towards him, coming very close with both palms blazing at her sides, aiming to compress the man's head inside a fiery clap.

"It's really a shame it had to come to this, I always thought you would have made a superb Fire Lord, although I must admit, you did get a bit too paranoid when you nearly did. You have no idea how relieved I was to hear that this nepotistic rule would end." The man kicked the ground in front of him with his heel, flames bursting vertically in front of him, halting Azula's rapid advancement.

"Power is there for those strong enough to seize it," Azula said haughtily as she brought her hands together, flames bursting from between her fingers, forcing their way through the shield.

"Ah, so that's why you're here, to take back power?" the man said as he gingerly jumped back from the advancing flames.

"Yes, Zuzu shall become the rightful ruler of our proud nation," Azula replied with conviction, halting her attack for the moment, with her eyes darting back and forth like a snake's tongue, searching for a weak spot.

"Your brother Zuko? Why? Why wouldn't you take power for yourself, as you once did? My, what a great leader we have lost in you. My Master would have been more than happy to give you a region to control." The man brought his arms around in a wide arc, unleashing a combined blast of fire from both of his hands.

"That weakling Fu Bai? Don't make me laugh, she's clever, but she never could master the finer aspects of firebending, not to mention her lack of any _real_ fire power." Azula stepped sideways, raising a hand to slice the red flames in half with a swipe of her own blue one, while the rest of the man's flames passed her harmlessly.

"Fu Bai? Ah, yes, but of course… Heh, I'd forgotten you attended the same school when you were little girls." The man once again threw several jabs at her, filling the small corridor with dozens of fiery bolts.

"I grow tired of this. Say, you are a man of honor, are you not?" Azula asked, after she had stopped all the bolts with a twist of her raised hand, summoning a swirling curtain of fire, which easily engulfed the smaller bolts.

"I certainly like to think of myself as one," the man answered as he stood up straight and dusted off his coat, sensing that a shift in the fight was fast approaching.

"Then let's do this the only way that really matters, with true power. One shot. Only the faster, stronger, talented and privileged shall win."

"Hmmm, why not. Doesn't seem like any of this will matter in the end."

"Now I like what I'm hearing. On the count of three, we fire our most potent attacks, no holding back," Azula said, taking a few careful steps back before she crouched down, beginning her snake like twisting as she gathered the unrestrainable energies on her fingertips. The old man mirrored her movements, facing her from several paces. The hall flickered and crackled, while the air began to smell of ozone.

"One," the two fighters counted as they continued charging their separate attacks

Then suddenly, as the first syllables of the next number began to leave their lips, they both shot a bolt of lightning at each other, neither trusting the other to wait until three.

* * *

A/N: Man, I love writing the new Azula (although the original is awesome too). It's kind of sad how she latches onto people, seeking love and approval; in that regard she's worse than Zuko was back in Book 1. First she never got enough love from mommy (at least from her perspective), then she latched onto daddy as he took an interest in her. I remember how distraught she was when daddy dearest wasn't going to take her along to burn the EK. Sure, you could say she's just sadistic, but I definitely got the impression she just wanted to prove to him how good a daughter she was. And now she's latched onto Zuko... I wonder how that'll turn out? :P

A conclusion of sorts is coming up shortly...


	21. Chapter 19: It Ends

Chapter 19: It Ends

As the two bolts of lightning arched through the room, Zuko reached for them with his right hand stretched out to catch them, confidant he could handle a pair of lightning bolts, just like when he had redirected his father's during the Day of the Black Sun. However, these bolts of blue-white energy were different than his father's; they felt more like the one his sister had shot at him during Sozin's Comet.

He remembered all that painful energy coursing through his unprepared body as he had dived to save Katara. It had nearly killed him. This time, there were two bolts of the same power and no Katara to save him if he failed.

Gritting his teeth, he focused his mind purely on directing the flow of energy to pass through his stomach. All of his muscles jerked violently as tendrils of electricity crawled over his body. His vision was starting to blur, but he could still see a point to focus on, a reddish figure standing ahead of him.

With a mighty roar, Zuko swung his left hand at the figure, unleashing the tremendous forces he had been barely able to control. Lightning sprawled from his fingertips in wide arcs, hitting everything in his vision, with deep fissures appearing in the supporting pillars while the far wall was punctured by random streaming bolts. The entire hall groaned and rumbled at the might of the elemental fury. The far wall, which had sustained the most damage, crumbled away, revealing light blue skies, stricken with deep dark columns of smoke.

However, Fu Bai had been expecting another lightning redirection from Zuko, and had brought her hands down at her sides, blasting fire downwards from all of her limbs, shooting up towards the ceiling just as Zuko had swung his other arm around. Up there, she landed onto a grim, almost skeletal looking chandelier. As the chandelier swung from her added weight, while she held onto a supporting chain with one hand, she fired a long burst of enormous flames at Zuko. Zuko, recovering from the vast amounts of energy he had just redirected, barely had enough time to summon a rotating shield of fire. The force of Fu Bai's blast threw him across the floor, with only Zuko's shield preventing him from burning to cinders.

"What the - ?" Zuko started to ask, shocked by the amazing fire power the woman had suddenly gained, but had to roll in order to avoid the swiping blade of flames Fu Bai brought down on him with an elegant kick as she dropped down from the chandelier.

The iron floor glowed red, sinking downwards a little. Apparently Fire Lord Azulon hadn't been big on the idea of acquiring materials capable of withstanding great temperatures on a base where fire was constantly being manipulated… that, or those flames were really, really hot. Zuko decided to go with the second option.

Once again, Fu Bai delivered another enormous slashing wave of fire at Zuko, this time horizontally. When Zuko came out of his roll, he brought his hands together low, unleashing a concentrated fount of fire at the wave. As he poured his fire at a the part of the wave in front of him, roaring flames rushed past him, singeing his arms slightly as the heat they emitted was more intense than normal flames, beyond a firebender's tolerance to fire.

The floor around Zuko glowed and cracked. He spun around, gathering the heat being emitted by the glowing floor, and shot a blast of intensely hot air at Fu Bai. He had learned a great deal from lightning redirection, in time, it had led him to search for other practical uses of energy redirection, and eventually he had discovered and mastered heat manipulation. At least this way, he wouldn't have to use his own energy to attack, since creating fire was rather taxing on the body. A stray thought of resentment for other benders who always had matter around them to bend passed his mind, before he forced himself to focus.

Fu Bai countered the blast of heat with a great ball of fire. As the two forces of heat reached each other, they exploded into a massive shockwave, throwing both of the combatants across the vast hall, into opposite walls.

"Very impressive, Zuko, but I couldn't help but notice you've been holding back on me," Fu Bai said, brushing loose hairs from her sweaty brow as she stood up.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked coldly, resisting the urge to scratch at the burning sensation in his scar, as he stood up as well.

"No lightning, or could it be that… Still can't bend lightning, huh? How sad, the greatest firebender in the country, _the Fire Lord_, can't even bend lightning," Fu Bai said with a smug smirk.

"I don't need to bend lightning to beat you," Zuko replied boldly, as he returned to a battle stance, arms at the ready.

For a brief moment, Fu Bai's eyes flashed dangerously, before she replied with a venomous tone, "Arrogant whelp. You can't possibly even hope to succeed today," the smug smirk returned to her face as she lifted her chin, so she could stare down at him from an angle, "In fact, all of our plans have only been furthered by your ignorant, futile attempts at peace," she chuckled briefly before she continued, "This really couldn't have gone better, if you hadn't intervened."

"What? Have you gone insane? We're here to stop you and end the Fire Nation's idiotic attempt to conquer the world again," Zuko said, allowing his hands to drop slightly. He gave a few short coughs.

"And we wouldn't have had it any other way," Fu Bai said, with her smile spreading even wider. The wide grin opened and revealed perfect white teeth, resembling, in a certain way, those of a shark as it approaches its next unsuspecting meal.

Fu Bai stood up as straight as she could and strode carelessly towards Zuko, with her arms clasped together behind her. "I was worried I'd have to put up a show of actually trying to fend off the approaching enemies, as to not make it too easy and obvious, but you and your comrades have provided a great excuse to leave the Fire Nation's armies leaderless as they are utterly destroyed. You'll make the perfect scapegoat… _The dethroned Fire lord returns with a vengeful heart, seeking his former position and glory, to only plunge his nation into oblivion_. Mmmm, how delicious."

Zuko stared at her with a raised eyebrow, mouth agape, before he coughed again. He was about to say something, but Fu Bai interrupted him.

"Still confused?" Fu Bai asked as she continued to slowly advance on Zuko nonchalantly, "Well I guess I can explain a thing or two before the real fun begins. Remember when I said we were feeding the pirates false information? Well, that was true on the first account, except the information wasn't false. It will lead anyone with half a brain here. Next thing we had to do was make sure our "enemies" received this information, and that an allegiance was suggested, nudging them in the right direction. Knowing how deeply the other nations had been hurt by the Fire Nation in the previous war, we were certain they would all leap at the chance."

Zuko coughed again, more roughly now than before, but he ignored it along with the sudden tiredness in his legs, dumbstruck by the new information, a morbid fascination urging him to listen further.

"We were slightly worried when we heard the Southern Water Tribe decided to take the more peaceful solution, but luckily, we could count on the Northern Tribe and the Earth Kingdom to make sure no more harm would come to their damaged nations. Massive fleets are on their way, to crush the threat of the Fire Nation for good."

"Y-you" – cough – "planned this? All of it? You _wanted_ them to attack you?"

"Why yes, _Fire Lord_. I really was worried I'd have to try and fight them, but now that you're here, they can easily destroy our army with the lovely bit of chaos you lent to us. Our soldiers won't know what hit them, thanks to you, as they try to stop the base from sinking and help their injured comrades. Thank you, Zuko, I really mean it. Because of you, we're so much closer to our goals"

Zuko stood in silence as he stared at her in shock. He coughed some more. "But… _why_?"

"The tides of war have changed. The world will never be the same. There was a shift in the power balance of the world. The Avatar failed to bring balance to the world. Power merely shifted to another place. The Fire Nation is obsolete, a dying beast. It, like the rest of the world, needs to be brought under control. A new order will rise, but not from the burned remains of the Fire Nation."

"So… _what_? You're going to destroy the Fire Nation's army and… conquer it? With outside forces? You wanted to _take_ _over_ the Fire Nation? Why, so you could build some stupid empire?"

"Exactly, my sweet. It's a lot easier to try it with the vast forces of the Earth Kingdom and its allies than trying to accomplish it with the weakened, 'evil' Fire Nation. The world will applaud us as we seize control of _all _of the people, completely oblivious to the fact that their nations are just as evil as ours. We'll go down in history as liberators and harbingers of peace."

"I won't let you, I'll stop you. No more people will die here today," Zuko said determinedly, although his knees shook terribly as he coughed loudly.

"How cute, you think you're still in control. Wake up kid, none of us are. Most of us just go through the empty motions, ignorant of the pointlessness of it all. But my Master has a solution, an end to the futility. Something so grand, it'll wash this world clean and usher to us a new paradise. The old broken values need to be destroyed so the new ones can be created. And I'll be there, at the forefront, redefining what it means to be alive," Fu Bai said with overwhelming zeal in her voice, now only a few paces away from Zuko, before she added rather offhandedly, "Oh, by the way, the mist we inhaled, it was a poison. You'll be fainting in a matter of minutes, just after the excruciating pain sets in."

"But y-youh breathed it t-too."

"But I also drink a neutralizing antiserum every day, just in case. I guess I'm just paranoid that way," Fu Bai said, closing the short distance between them swiftly and pushing Zuko down. Zuko tried to stop her, but his hands felt heavier than lead. He fell over limply while colored dots swam across his eyes.

"Master?" he wheezed with his remaining strength.

Fu Bai knelt down next to him and caressed his check tenderly, until she reached his scar. She brought her face close to his, golden eyes staring deeply into each other. "Why waste my breath on a dying man? But don't worry, I am not without mercy."

She kissed him tenderly on the lips, as her free hand reached past his head. She grabbed one of the hitherto unused swords strapped to his back and pulled it out of its sheath, with a gentle, terrifying screeching sound, filled with the certainty of oblivion. Their lips parted, and she smiled down at him. "Goodbye, Zuko. So sad it had to come to this, you could have been a great asset to the new order, bringing about that peace you always longed for. I really did believe in all that crap back when you and the Avatar defeated Ozai, but I think it had more to do with that infatuation all of us Fire Nation girls had for you after your glorious return."

She brought Zuko's sword around to his throat, ready to cut it open in one fell movement.

"This is the end," she said with a calm certainty.


	22. Chapter 20: It Falls Apart

Chapter 20: It Falls Apart 

"_Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;  
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,  
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere  
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;  
The best lack all conviction, while the worst  
Are full of passionate intensity."_

- William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming

As the blade's sharp edge broke his skin, Zuko let loose a small scream of impotent rage. All his struggling had led to nothing. Everything he had sacrificed had amounted to nothing. All his good intentions had been twisted beyond recognition. He had messed up, _failed_. His mistakes had lead to more harm, danger and death than merely acknowledging defeat ever could have.

As the blade began its slow journey across his throat, he finally gave up, accepting his fate: a failure. Just like his father had always said. He was nothing, and soon he would literally be nothing. He welcomed the oblivion, not wanting to remain among the living, the ones he loved, had failed and hurt. Maybe this was his absolution…

"NOOOO!!!"

The screeching scream halted the blades early voyage across Zuko's throat. Fu Bai raised her shocked gaze from Zuko, to meet the crazed eyes of a bloodthirsty monster.

Azula lunged at Fu Bai, arms outstretched, palms blazing like cold stars. She knocked Fu Bai off Zuko and the two women rolled away from him, towards the edge of the enormous hall, where the wall had crumbled away, a sudden fall waiting hungrily for a victim, uncaring of how many it would claim that day.

The rolling heap of women stopped just short of the edge. Both of them struggled madly, one trying to incinerate the other with an overwhelming hatred, while the other frantically tried to hold back the blazing palms, fear driving all thoughts out of its owner's mind. Fu Bai desperately held Azula's wrists, using all of her strength to try and keep the fires away from her. Azula kept screaming wildly, as she tried to bring her burning hands down on Fu Bai's face.

Fearfully, Fu Bai looked into Azula's eyes. What she saw scared her so deeply, it drained the last of her strength away. No living creature could handle the pure, hateful emptiness those eyes revealed. Azula's hands began to burn brightly, as a new energy filled her body. Coupled with her burning passion, this new energy allowed her to commit yet another murder that fateful day. As Azula managed to overpower her final victim, the world seemed to go horribly silent for a painstaking moment, before…

Terrifying screams of unrelenting pain echoed through the hall, as Azula finally brought her hands against Fu Bai's face. Fu Bai's back arched horribly, while the rest of her body shook uncontrollably. Through all of this, Azula sat on top of her, laughing and screaming, while manic tears ran down her cheeks.

"Mine! He's mine!"she screamed, pushing her hands deeper in to the burning flesh.

The screams grew silent, while a sickening stench filled the absence of sound. Nothing stirred for minutes. Azula sat on top of the corpse, panting deeply as she stared at her hands, watching the blue flames as they burned out. _Where had that power come from?_ She asked herself.

Zuko's rough coughs brought her back to the present. Shocked to find him lying on the floor, Azula stood up, to make her way to him. However, she nearly tripped over the corpse between her legs. She looked down at it in frightful shock, until the old hatred returned to her eyes. Glaring at the corpse, she kicked the smoldering remains over the edge, taking her time to watch it plummet and hit the cold, iron floor below. She then turned to her coughing brother.

Briskly she joined him, kneeling next to him, while she carefully lifted his head. She hugged it against her chest as she carefully stroked his hair.

"I'm sorry I was late, Zuzu…" Azula said softly, continuing to stroke her brother's hair, as she looked down at his scarred face, "But I did good, didn't I? I killed them, both of them, Zuzu. They'll never hurt us again…"

"You… you killed them?" Zuko asked weakly.

"Yes, Zuzu, they're gone. First I killed the man you sent me to chase. His lightning was weak. Mine went through his just as easily as it went through his body. Then I killed her… she almost killed you! But I got her… burned her pretty face off…"

"No… No… No! Azula, how… how could you? I thought… I thought you were better than this… I thought we were both better than this…" Zuko said softly but intently, before he coughed roughly. Blood spattered his already dark red shirt.

"Zuko! No!" Azula cried out frantically. A trembling hand touched the fresh blood on her brother's chest. "I – I only wanted to help you – protect you! I did this for you!"

"Azula… this isn't what I wanted… we – we were supposed to fix the world, not help destroy it… agh… how could you kill so many people? I'll never understand… I… Why can't _you_ understand, Azula?" Zuko asked, as his body began to shake. All of his muscles burned horribly, while nerves fired off randomly, overloading his mind with pain.

Zuko screamed in pain, as spasms contorted his body into horrible shapes. Azula stared at his convulsing body with fear. She tried to hold him still, but she couldn't stop it. Eventually the shaking and screaming stopped, leaving the hall silent, which was even worse than the screaming.

"Zuko?" Azula asked tentatively, looking fearfully at the pained expression that remained on her brother's face. She carefully shook his head, but no response came. She shook it again, more forcefully, as tears began to flow from her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry! Zuko! Don't die! I promise! I promise I'll be good, just don't leave me again!" she screamed at him, while rocking his head in her arms.

The pair remained silent for moments, with only the occasional sniffles from Azula breaking the horrible silence. Images of a similar scene, only reversed, swam through her fractured mind. _He_ was holding _her_. He had said he would never leave her again. He had said he loved her, with all of his heart.

"Zuko, please… don't leave me… you're all I have… I love you…" she spoke the words quietly. Tears fell into the small pools of blood on his shirt, crimson splatters spreading across his shirt.

Suddenly, the loud thuds of metal came from a small passageway. Azula didn't respond at all to the new sounds, she just sat silently, holding her brother tightly. A small man, wrapped in metal came barreling into the hall, groaning at the rough treatment he was receiving. Toph followed him, carrying a bleeding Sokka on her shoulders. She gave the man one last kick, sending him flying across the room into a wall. Pieces of the damaged ceiling fell down on him roughly. He continued his miserable groaning.

Carefully, Toph lowered Sokka off from her shoulders, making sure his wounds weren't disturbed. She hadn't risked trying to remove the points of the arrows, knowing that pulling them out without the proper medical knowledge would merely cause more harm than leaving them in. Under her breath, she cursed whoever it had been who had invented the hook like sharp ends an arrowhead had. As she inspected the crude bandages she had made out of pieces of her clothing, which had been wrapped around the wounds, turning dreadfully red with time, she looked around quickly.

Amidst the wreckage, she sensed a hunched figure, quietly sobbing over a lying body.

"No… not him too…" Toph said weakly, as she rose to her feet, both yearning and dreading the closer look she had to take, to confirm or disprove her worst fears.

Before she could move, however, Ty Lee appeared, bent over as she too carried an injured friend on her shoulders. She spotted Toph, standing in the middle of the room, and quickly hurried to her side.

"Sorry, I couldn't bring my guy back here, he was just too damn big, and I had to get Hefeng… to…" she stopped in midsentence as she saw Sokka's body lying on the ground. Her eyes widened with fear, while she carefully lowered Hefeng onto the ground, who gave a short, pained grunt, holding her sides.

"Sokka," Ty Lee said blankly as she moved to inspect him. "I – what? What happened, Toph?" she asked Toph, turning her blank face to look at her grim friend. "What happened? Is he - ?"

"Still alive…" Toph said, her head dropping, her bangs shadowing her blind eyes.

"What are you - ? C'mon! We have to get him to – to," Ty Lee said, starting with an angry tone at the lack of empathy for Sokka's condition that quickly disappeared, as she spotted Azula, quietly crying over Zuko's body.

"No…" Ty Lee muttered, raising a hand to cover her mouth. She could feel her eyes getting moist, but she didn't try to hold back the tears.

Toph on the other hand, was doing all she could not to show any more weakness that day, but it wasn't enough. Horribly gentle tears dropped from her hidden eyes under her bangs, hitting the floor. She could feel the slight impacts with crystal clarity through the metal at her feet. She started walking towards the royal siblings, not wanting to feel the impact of tears on cold metal and the laboring pulse of Sokka, all the while deeply dreading the possible emptiness she might find at the other end of the hall.

Ty Lee followed her silently. When the pair reached Azula and Zuko, Azula finally raised her red, puffy, shadowed eyes from Zuko's body. The two women stopped cold in their tracks. Azula stared at them angrily, silently daring them to take a step closer.

"Stay back," she hissed eventually, "He's mine… not yours… you don't deserve to even be near him, you disgusting pair of –"

"Azula!" Ty Lee said, shocked by her friends hateful glare. She took a careful step towards her, but backed up, as Azula growled at her, like a dog guarding its meal. "Azula… is he…?"

Azula looked away from them and held her brother tightly.

"No…" Ty Lee said softly, falling to her knees, her lips quivering. She turned to look at Toph, who still had her face hidden behind her loose bangs. "Toph… please say something…"

Suddenly Toph raised her head, empty yet moist eyes round with shock. "He's alive! I can feel his heartbeat! But it's even weaker than Sokka's. We have to get him and everyone else out of here. Fast!" she said determinedly as she moved forward to help carry Zuko.

Azula turned her maddened face towards her and screamed, "Stay back! He's mine! You filthy little tramp! I know what you've been trying to do… seducing him, so you can take him away from me! But I won't let you, he's mine!"

"Azula, stop acting cra-" Toph started to say but stopped, choosing to rephrase her next words carefully. "We need to take him with us. He needs help, do you understand? He's not dead. We can save him."

But Azula was beyond reason now. She stood up suddenly, turning around to face her new opponent, her palms blazing with a cold, blue fire. "I said, leave us alone!"

She thrust her palm outwards, shooting a spray of fire at Toph. Toph rolled away, while Ty Lee did likewise, barely avoiding the flames as they hit the floor and crashed against it, spreading out with deadly force.

"We don't have time for this!" Toph shouted as she pulled up a piece of the floor to protect her from a jet of fire.

Then the entire hall shook violently, as if something even bigger than the base had hit them. All three of the women fell to the floor.

"Did we hit an iceberg?" Ty Lee asked timidly, sprawled on the floor.

An explosion bloomed outside of the hall, bright yellow light from the open wall filling it. The women shielded their eyes from the blinding flash, and then sneaked a peak outside. Outside, war had started.

They saw Fire Nation soldiers scrambling around like ants as they were showered by explosive containers. Past the walls of the floating base, hundreds of ships were closing in on it. Large, almost square looking ships, painted with dark greens, did most of the firing, while smaller vessels advanced on whatever Fire Nation ships remained in the waters surrounding the base. Blue clad warriors stormed the vessels, butchering what little resistance they encountered.

"What's going on?" Toph asked, oblivious to the carnage, beyond the loud blasts.

"T-t-they're… they're k-killing them," Ty Lee stuttered, shocked by the bloodbath opening in front of her eyes. "No… how could they…?"

"Damn it! We have to get out of here, now!" Toph shouted as she stepped out from her shelter.

Azula pried herself away from the carnage, unwilling to surrender her Zuko. "Step back, harlot!" she screamed at Toph before she shot another blue blast of fire at her.

Toph gingerly jumped back behind her shelter, cursing under her breath at the lack of proper earth to bend. But a plan of sorts quickly reached her desperate mind. She grabbed large pieces of the floor and threw them at Azula, who stood her ground, protecting her brother, blasting the pieces away with bursts of fire.

While Azula was distracted by the barrage, Toph shouted, "Ty, knock her out! Take her bending away! Anything!"

But Ty Lee merely continued staring at the awful massacre below, frozen in place by silent horror.

"Ty! Both Zuko and Sokka are gonna die if you don't do something!" Toph shouted angrily, still continuing her bombardment.

Ty Lee finally snapped out of it, looking around in shock. When she spotted Azula, a grim determination replaced her scared expression. She got up slowly, all the time staring at Azula, who was busy blasting at the wreckage aimed at her and Zuko.

With incredible speed, Ty Lee ran at Azula, nimbly dodging stray pieces of smoldering scrap metal until she arrived behind the princess. Azula turned around to face the new threat, a burning fist raised to strike her old friend, but it was too late. Ty Lee struck her at a nerve cluster in her neck, instantly causing Azula to collapse. As she fell to the ground, Ty Lee quietly muttered, "Sorry…"

Toph emerged from behind her shelter staring angrily at Azula's prone body. She spat on the ground at her feet in disgust, before she turned her empty gaze to Ty Lee, still standing over Azula with a sad look on her face, feeling like a traitor.

"C'mon, we gotta hurry," Toph said.

* * *

"What took you so long?!" Danya asked angrily, as she brought a whip of water down on one of the few Fire Nation soldiers still trying to subdue the errant capturers of a large, sleek war balloon.

"Shut up!" Toph yelled, pulling a heavy piece of metal behind her. Hefeng, Sokka, Zuko and Azula were all lying on it. Ty Lee jogged by her side, knocking out the occasional soldier who was stupid enough to get in their way.

"That thing had better be ready to go!" Toph shouted as she reached the balloon. The waterbender who had managed to go without introducing himself to the rest of the team peeked out of a window in the cabin of the balloon's large basket, giving them a silent thumbs up.

"Good," Toph muttered as she hauled her friends over a ramp and onto the vessel. This balloon wasn't typical by anyone's standards. It resembled a speedy, luxury yacht, attached to an egg shaped balloon. Painted with the typical reds and blacks, it looked menacing enough without the sharp spikes that ran along its sides, ending at the brow in a giant one, fit to skewer all enemies. A large fan began to spin behind it, while rudders turned expectantly.

Engines roared to life, filling the balloons insides with hot air. Outside of it, Danya cut the ropes it was attached to with her whips of water and quickly ran up the ramp after everyone else, before she raised it.

"Gogogo!" Danya shouted, trying to will the blasted machine to rise faster, as she stood on the side of the deck in front of the cabin, swatting arrows with water tendrils, aimed at the vulnerable balloon.

Soon, the regal balloon was over anyone's weapon's reach. It veered dangerously towards a setting sun, which mirrored horribly the carnage below them with its color. Ty Lee sat huddled next to the cabin, holding her feet tightly, eyes shut, as she rocked gently, trying to suppress the images of burned and mangled bodies of fellow Fire Nation people. Toph was kneeling over her fallen friends, hands tightened into painful fists, while horrible sounds of death and pain drifted through the air into her sharp ears.

"Where did we go wrong?" Toph asks solemnly.

END OF BOOK FOUR: EMBERS

TO BE CONTINUED?

A/N: Well, yes, it will. I guess there goes that tension. The story will be going on a short hiatus for the Christmas holidays, so I can relax, gather notes and finish plotting out the remainder of my little 'epic'. I decided to end Book 4 here, since a sort of climax had been reached. And in addition, I think this is a nice little tribute of sorts to Book 2, which ended similarly: mistakes were made and the good guys didn't win. Sure, this might prevent me from gaining more new readers, but I think it's what the story demands. Plus! The book ended at 20 chapters (those interludes obviously don't count), which was surprisingly not planned.

Damn, that excerpt fits perfectly with this chapter.

And thank you all who bothered to review. Uncle Perkele loves you all – in a totally plutonic way, of course…

Answering some questions, seeing as it's the Christmas holidays:

_Who tried to kill Azula?_ Well, simply put, that guy was from the Water Tribe. He had been held as a prisoner in the previous war by the Fire Nation. Azula had been in charge of questioning him… After the war, he returned home, a broken man. Nothing was the same, what had made him laugh before, he found no delight in; what he had loved, he didn't care about anymore. The broken man found employment among the royal guard of the palace. As if through fate (or narrative imperative), he was among the guards who saw the Fire Nation princess arrive in the arms of her brother. She quickly consumed his mind, he could think of nothing but her. Very quickly, he decided to take matters into his own hands, and deliver the justice he had been denied for so long. But we already know how that ended, don't we? The point of the chapter was to practice and play around with my writing technique, and to give a little sneak peek at Azula's current state of mind, while reminding the reader that she has a lot of people she wronged in the past. I know it was left a bit, uhm, open, but how would anyone be able to find out about him within the story? Besides, it would have distracted us from the general plot. I tried to think of a way to involve him in the general plot after the questions I received concerning him, but it just didn't really work, seeing as I wrote him, not acting on orders, but going after revenge. I'm explaining this now, seeing as I probably won't be returning to this plot point.

_Why is Azula so concerned about how Zuko feels about her?_ Well… simply put, Azula has a nasty habit of latching on to people. In that regard, she's almost worse than Zuko ever was. As a young girl, she didn't receive the love she needed from her mother (at least from her perspective). Then her father came along and started to take an interest in her, and she latched on to him. Evidence to support this came from Book 3. IIRC, she was extremely distraught when daddy dearest didn't want to take her along to burn the world. Sure, you could argue that she is just sadistic, but I got the impression she just wanted to prove how good a daughter she was to him. After she 'lost' Ozai, enter stage left: Zuko, a knight in shining armor, comes to her rescue, promising to be there for her always. She then latched on to him. But! Because of her mental breakdown, this unfamiliar love she is experiencing for another human being is manifesting in a dangerous way. All she needs is just some love, seriously.

_Why Embers?_ … Why is this story called Embers?... Because EVERYBODY else calls their Book 4's Air! Pardon me for trying to be original. Besides, if you think about it, the names of the books corresponded to the elements Aang was learning. Why would the fourth book be called Air, when he has already mastered airbending? If anything, Air should be the name of a prequel, where we find out how Aang learned airbending in the first place. To be honest, Spirit would have been a good name for Book 4, if it had dealt with Aang, where he would learn to control the last of the classical elements, aether/spirit/The Force/whatever holds the universe together (Aang, the Last Jedi does have a certain ring to it, I must admit). But this book isn't about that. To be honest, I thought it was pretty obvious why it was called Embers. I don't know if I want to explain it… Ah, what the hell… embers of war and all that; how a fire can restart from the remaining embers… pretty obvious symbolism if you ask me. Another reason why it was called Embers was because it remained loyal to the elemental styling of the previous books' names.

_What happens next/What is (was) Fu Bai planning? _Don't be silly, I can't directly answer that. Those are plot points to be revealed later. But here's a little something to wet your appetites.

[Teaser] Book 5: Detritus [working title, subject to change, it must maintain elemental… element] will wrap up the remaining mysteries: What happened to Aang and the Spirit World? Who is the mastermind manipulating everything from behind the scenes? It's all connected, and someone we know is behind it, but not as they appeared in the original series. Expect the unexpected as Zuko sets out to fix his mistakes and hopefully restore balance to the world, but will he have the support of his friends anymore? Is he destined to live alone forever, sacrificing what little he has for those he loves and has unwillingly wronged in the past? Will Azula find redemption like her brother did once, or fall back to madness as her obsession for her brother strengthens? Did everyone else survive the secret mission fully intact, and how are they going to deal with the new world they find themselves in. And then there's Katara – ooh, she is not going to be happy, I can tell you that! Look forward to an appearance by Mai! And possibly Iroh and Suki (if I can think of a way to squeeze them in)! The Epic Conclusion Awaits!! Dun Dun DUUN!! And I'll promise to ease off on the exclamation marks!!! Right after this!!!!!


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